Withered Petals
by Regiinator
Summary: "I found her as an orphan. She was a kind girl who loved flowers. I promised myself that I would protect her, but I failed... Now I'm going to do everything in my power to save her." HeathxIris, rated T for safety.
1. Chapter 1: Scene 1 to 3

_I've played Luminous Arc several times, and I've always wanted to write something, but I've never gotten around to it. So, I finally pulled my finger out and wrote something for possibly one of my favourite games of all time, along with Pokemon, LA2 and The World Ends With You._

_When I played, I was fascinated by Heath and Iris, and I never really got to show how much I really cared for these two. Heath was always kinda cool and Iris... it never really touched on her past with Heath, which is why I wanted to invent mine._

_This was also inspired by a fanfic called 'The Steel Witch' by MammonDaughter. It was pretty good, and it really made me want to write something about these two. Also, they are one of my LA OTPs, so... yeah._

_Enjoy, you guys. It's a three-parter, so stay tuned for the rest coming soon!_

_**Disclaimer:**__ I own nothing in this story. Luminous Arc and all of its characters are copyright to Atlus._

-/-/-/-/-/-

**Withered Petals**

-/-/-/-/-/-

Life... it's such a generous gift, given to us by the creator of this planet. Sometimes I do wonder who does – the God we all once believed in turned out to be a monster and tried to consume everything, meaning there must be some other entity somewhere. But whoever makes life grow and flourish is a wonderful being.

My name is Heath or rather 'Sir Heath' as I am known. I am an Arc Knight, once serving under the Luminous Church before I finally figured out their destructive ways and who our God really was. A long time ago, I was merely a soldier in an army in a country, protecting the land from fiends and monsters that attacked crops and villages. I had been assigned to a squad that patrolled the roads from Adwest, through the mining Village of Gamarr and over Leastre Bridge to the industrial town of Dotruvar. We were all experienced soldiers, although rookie ones. I remember travelling during midday with my closest companion, Kai; a samurai swordsman who spoke little, but was very wise. The two of us had been close since I had started training with the Knights, both of us near promotion status. Kai was going to work with the Euros Knights to the East and I was to become an Arc Knight, guarding the Royal Church.

It was this particular day that changed my life forever. The two of us had stopped to rest on Leastre Bridge to look at the scenery. The bridge spanned over a river that had water so crystal clear, you could see the pebbles at the bottom, with grass banks that had barely a mark of mud in sight. At a small curve in the river further down there was a field of beautiful white flowers that bloomed in hundreds and spanned the entire curve. I remember these flowers well as Krystonans, a very rare and beautiful flower that if held at the correct angle in the sunlight, sparkled like a gemstone. I smiled as myself and Kai sat on the bank, having some lunch.

"Kai," I finally said after about ten minutes of silence. The other boy looked over at me quizzically as I spoke, "Do you reckon we'll get those promotions? I mean, to Arc Knight and to the Euros Knight Squad?"

Kai thought for a moment, taking a bite out of an apple as he spoke; "...Depends, Heath. We are skilled, yes. But there are others wishing for our positions."

"True..." I nodded, slowly standing and dusting off my blue uniform, putting my container of water back into the small holster on my waist and picking up my spear, "I'm going to take a brief walk. It's such a nice day; it'd be a shame to miss this scenery."

Kai nodded quietly, his long black hair falling back over his pale face as he took another bite of his apple and beginning to flick his sword slightly at some unknown enemy. Sighing a little, I stretched and began to walk down the river, towards the field of flowers I had seen earlier and gently pushing my blonde hair out of my eyes. I made my way towards them down the river, keeping an eye out for monsters along the way.

I had no idea what I was about to get myself into.

As I approached, something amidst the field of flowers caught my eye. The field had been tainted with another colour, one that hadn't been there earlier. Amidst the white, it seemed there was a small patch of purple, along with some other blotches of pink, cream and red. Unsure of what it was at first, I grabbed my spear and began to advance slowly towards the field of flowers. Perhaps it was a monster; if it was, it had picked the wrong time to show up. However something troubled me. If it was a monster, then it would have noticed me by now and either attacked or fled, but this mass of colour wasn't moving an inch. I crept closer, now on the edge of the field of flowers. I leant closer and my heart froze in my chest as I saw what the mass of colour actually was.

It was a young girl; long, untidy purple hair that went just past her shoulders, quite short and with a weak and frail stature like she hadn't eaten in days. She was wearing a dirty, faded white dress that made her blend in a bit with the flowers, and her legs and arms stuck out at odd angles. Her feet were bloody and raw with no shoes, as if she'd walked a long way and she was laying face-down amidst the flowers.

Although a soldier is meant to keep calm, seeing a girl no older than twelve in a condition like that terrified me. I wanted to run back to Kai to get his help, but I had no idea if this girl was dead or not. The way she was laid out, strewn face-down over the flowers made it look like she had collapsed from exhaustion. However I remembered that she hadn't been there about ten minutes ago. If I was fast, I could help her.

"H-hey, hey!" I called out, dropping my spear and running to her, falling to my knees and crushing some of the pretty flowers under them; "Hey, are you okay? Say something!"

No response. Panicking a little, I rolled her onto her side to get a better look. Her body was covered in mud and dirt, and her eyes were closed. Her face had some blood on it and her mouth was slightly open. I put my hand over her mouth and felt a small wave of relief break the tides of my panic as I felt warm, although shallow breath pass against my hand. Biting my lower lip, I walked over to the river hurriedly and cupped my hands in it, getting some of the water and hurrying back over to her, tipping the clear liquid into her open mouth. She seemed to be unconscious, but her body's natural reflexes kicked in and forced her to swallow the water, making her gasp loudly and her breathing become a little clearer.

"She's so malnourished..." I whispered to myself, rolling the girl onto her back, "She must've been walking for days without food or water, and judging by her feet she must've walked a long way..." My eyes trailed down to her hands. In one hand she grasped one of the Krystonan flowers, its petals still intact even though she had been lying on it. In the other hand however, she held a small locket clutched so tightly that the small metal had cut into her hand. Slowly easing the hand open, I pulled the locket out and took a look at it. In the picture was her, with two adults standing behind her; a tall man with brown hair, bright blue eyes and muscular build, and a woman with long purple hair and green eyes. The two had an arm around each other, and their other arm resting on the girl's shoulder. I could only guess that these were her parents. Gently, I placed the locket in my pocket and shook her gently. As I did, I gave a wince as I felt her ribs through her dress.

"Come on, keep with me – I'm going to get help!" I turned to leave, but as I did, the girl stirred, her eyes weakly opening to show faded blue irises that seemed unfocused and far away. I knew at that exact moment that I couldn't leave her there. Her hand rose shakily towards me, as if pleading for me to help, her mouth opening but no sound leaving it before it slumped to the ground, her body falling limp again as she passed out.

"Son of a...!" I cursed loudly like a normal eighteen-year-old would and turned back to her. I was full-fledge panicking now; I didn't deal with these kinds of situations; I simply defeated the odd monster or two. Shakily I crouched down, sliding my arms underneath her and lifting her up, beginning to run; "Just hold on, miss! Kai? KAI!"

-/-/-/-/-

Kai and I had taken her back to the nearby barracks to try to recover. She was in an absolutely horrible condition with more bruises and cuts on her than I had originally thought, however she recovered. I remember spending countless hours at her bed-side watching her, looking over her. Kai had asked why, and I simply told him that I thought that it was my responsibility for what had happened. I knew it wasn't, but she was such a fragile girl that I didn't trust any of the other soldiers with her. Kai had simply shrugged it off and left, but I stayed with the girl the entire time.

When she finally awoke a few days later, I was still there, watching her. I remembered the first time I'd heard her say anything; three words that seemed natural to anyone in that situation but made my heart soar more than anyone knew it could, just knowing she was okay from those words.

"Where... am I?"

I bolted upright in my seat, leaping to my feet and running over to her; "You're awake! God bless you, little miss, you had me scared."

"I... remember you..." She looked at me with those brilliant blue eyes, eyes that were slowly regaining their focus as she blinked; "...The field... those beautiful flowers, and... I remember falling... you came to help me, and..."

"My name is Heath... you were unconscious in the field of Krystonans. I took you here to the Dotruvar barracks to recover – please, rest," I rested my hand on her shoulder as I saw she was trying to get up; "You're in no shape to move around. Your feet have had to be plastered up to help them recover."

"..." The girl was silent for a moment, her delicate fingers clutching the covers as she stared at them. I guessed she was probably remembering something, so I sat next to her and rested a hand on her shoulder.

"Do... you know how you ended up in the field? Do you remember...?"

"...M-Mamma... P-Papa..." The girl's eyes brimmed with sudden tears, and my heart suddenly turned to ice at the look on her face; "I... I tried to help..."

"What happened?"

"We... we travelled..." The girl whispered softly, her hair falling in front of her face for a moment; "We travelled all over th-the world, trading goods and selling them... I-I was the flower girl, I love flowers so much... my Mamma named me after one..."

"What's your name?"

The girl looked up at me, sniffing briefly before stroking her hair from her eyes; "...Iris... m-my name's Iris."

"Iris... a beautiful name," I smiled as I stroked her face. The girl gave a faint smile, but it died very quickly and I realised that this was much more serious than anything else I had thought of.

"Mamma and Papa... they were driving our horse-drawn carriage when we went to set up camp. Mamma told me to get some water, so... I did," The girl looked at her feet; "As I went to get the water by the mountain stream, I saw the prettiest red flowers... I ended up staying in the field for a few moments to admire them... they were red and had purple spots on them, and looked so pretty..."

"They must have been," I nodded. I wasn't the most interested in flowers, but I knew that making me sound like I was would keep her happy; "So then what? You saw these flowers and..."

"...I stayed in the field for a while..." The girl's voice faded into almost a whisper, "I then got some water and began to head back..." Her voice was barely audible now and I had to lean in to hear. However, what I tried to prepare myself for would never have been enough for what she said next.

"I... came back into our clearing... the fire wasn't lit, and it was dark. I remember walking forwards and seeing something..." Her voice wavered and she seemed to be fighting off tears; "It was... our carriage... smashed and broken... The horse was dead... and behind the carriage... Mamma... Papa..." Her eyes misted over as she sobbed into the blanket in her hands.

I felt my blood freeze over as I gently rested my hand on her shoulder. This girl... so young and having to see something like that...

"I-I ran..." she continued, holding the blanket to her face and muffling her sobs; "I ran as far away from there as I could, not looking back... I kept walking, just wanting to forget... I walked for three days straight, with no food and no water... I saw the stream across the field of flowers... I tried to get to it for some water, but... I couldn't..." Her voice trailed back into sobs as I gently put my arms around her. I could think of nothing to say at that time, so I simply held her and let her sob into my shirt.

I had nothing to say. Nothing could show how much pain this girl had gone through. I simply held her, letting her tears soak my shirt as her arms wrapped back around me.

"Iris..."

-/-/-/-/-

Thanks to my courage of saving Iris, I soon got my promotional chance. However, in light of what had happened, I turned it down politely saying that I wanted to look after Iris. The current Grand Cardinal, and the Cardinal at the time who was called Kingston both seemed very surprised, but I explained to them what I thought.

"Iris... she has no parents. She barely trusts anyone, and I wish for her to at least gain some trust back in someone. I wish for that person to be me, and so, I will not leave her side until she is better."

I stayed true to my word. Iris was twelve when I found her, and at such a young age she was so innocent and pure, even after seeing something like that. I looked after Iris, treating her almost like my younger sister. Kai was even treated a bit like an older brother too, and although he didn't admit it, seemed at least a little happy with the title.

Iris put so much joy into my life. A long day fighting monsters and defeating bandits and thieves was all worth it just to go home and see her beautiful smiling face and her cheerful call of my name. She became a part of my life that I never knew I needed, and she also reminded me that even if I was just a soldier, I could make a difference in someone's life. We stayed together for three years as I watched her grow and mature into a healthy young teenager. On her fifteenth birthday, we went back to the field of flowers where I had found her. We sat there for almost the entire day, talking about general things. She even got me to start liking flowers, something that would have probably made someone in my position want to resign or kill themselves. But I wasn't like the regular soldiers; whether they killed for fun or for keeping the land safe, I did neither.

I fought for Iris, the girl who I had saved.

A few weeks later, I was asked to be promoted again. I declined, but Iris had her say in the matter this time.

"If you really want to become an Arc Knight, then I don't want to stop you, Heath..." She had spoken in such a soft tone that it had melted my resolve even from the start; "This was your dream, ever since you became a Knight. I don't want to take that from you just because you rescued me. I'm a young woman now, and I can look after myself..."

"Iris, I do not wish to leave you alone," I had protested, but Iris was firm with her statement and said that I could come back and visit anytime. I agreed reluctantly and took the promotion, much to Iris' delight. I then became known as 'Arc Knight Heath', a title I had wished upon myself for five years, ever since I had joined the army at sixteen.

I remember the day that I had left our house to do my duty; not to protect the church, but to train a group of children in the way of battling. The children were known as the 'Garden Children', and consisted of three boys and a girl. Alph was fifteen and was always very outgoing, well-trained with a gun and a sword. Theo was Alph's younger brother, only ten at the time and mostly trained with his bow. Leon was a tall boy at the age of sixteen, spiky red hair and a bit of a slacker, wielding a hefty sword over his shoulder. Finally, there was Cecille, a fifteen year old Priestess-in-training who was always calm and shy, but a good friend and companion to all. The four of them reminded me so much of Iris, and I cherished them as my students and taught them the way to fight and the way of the Church.

I had gone home regularly to check up on Iris, occasionally asking Kai to look in on her. Iris was true to her word and kept herself healthy, getting a job as a cleaner in the Church to earn money and always seemed to keep the house spotless. The house was also filled with flowers of every colour, and Kai remarked at one point that 'if you turned your head fast enough, it was like having a miniature psychedelic fit' to which I had promptly burst out laughing and the four kids had looked at me like I had grown another head.

I would go back every Christmas and birthday to see Iris and to spend time with her. When I returned on her seventeenth birthday, I had brought back a bouquet of Krystonans for her, and when I showed them to her, I was glad that I was wearing armour because the hug she had given me could have crushed my ribs. We spent the day together, and before I left, Iris had something very important to say to me.

"...Heath," Iris lowered her head in embarrassment, "I... have something I want to tell you."

"Yes?" I turned to look at her. Her head was lowered a bit, her hair in two large buns on either side of her head; "What is it, Iris?"

"I..." Iris looked away before slowly standing up and walking over to me, placing something in my hands; "...I want you to have these."

I looked at my hands. In one hand was a small bunch of multicoloured flowers held together by a tiny string, and in my other hand was a long, red piece of fabric that was folded. In the middle of the small group of flowers was a Krystonan, a symbol we now used for our trust to each other.

"Iris, these are beautiful..." I smiled at her before picking up the red fabric and unfolding it, realising there were small hooks near the centre of it on the right; "This is..."

"A cloak," She smiled broadly; "I knitted it myself, just for you! I think it suits you! Please wear it, Heath... I mean, 'Arc Knight Heath'!"

"I will," I smiled as I slipped the small hooks onto my armour so the long piece of fabric trailed down over my left arm; "Thank you so much, Iris."

Iris smiled that beautiful smile I loved seeing so much, her blue eyes twinkling and her arms flying up to wrap around me again. I smiled, returning the hug and bending down so we were eye-level with each other; "Heath, please be careful out there, and make those children see that they're learning under the best Arc Knight in the land."

I gave a soft laugh, patting her arm and pulling her in for another hug. I opened my mouth to say something until I felt her lips graze gently against my cheek. I flushed a little and pulled away, "I-Iris...!"

"Please be safe, Heath... for me."

I nodded slowly, standing up and shaking the initial shock of it off; "Alright Iris, I will. You be safe too, okay?"

She nodded and turned away, smiling back at me; "See you soon, Heath!"

"Be good, Iris!" I called back. As I turned, I gently reached up, brushing the place on my cheek where she had kissed me. Shaking it off a little, I adjusted the cloak on my arm and slipped the flowers into my armour so that the flower heads were sticking out just under my chin with the Krystonan right in the centre. Smiling gently, I tapped the tiny white flower and began to walk, thinking of the smiling girl who I had saved five years ago, the girl who was alone, but had such a big heart.

...That was the last time I ever saw her... before it happened.

-/-/-/-/-/-

**There's part one. Hooray for cliff-hangers! Anyway, that's my small interpretation of Iris' past with Heath. I tried to think on what they may have been like before the whole in-game incident when you meet Iris... I actually felt kind of sad when I was writing about Iris' past.**

**This was originally for a school project, and so using the Luminous Arc OST, I made my own soundtrack that relates to scenes in the story. If you play LA and have gotten the Sound Test in the "Extras" menu, then I put the track numbers in for you. The title names are from Youtube, so if you want to listen, type 'em into YT.**

"**Everyday Sunny" (Scene 1, Act 1) – Track 21**

"**A Risky Situation" (Scene 1, Act 2) – Track 26**

"**The Night We Can't Meet With" (Scene 2) – Track 20**

"**Fellow" (Scene 3, Act 1) – Track 24**

"**Teardrops" (Scene 3, Act 2) – Track 28**

**The next part basically revolves around the game, but from Heath's POV instead of Alph's. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed reading it.**

**See you all soon with part two.**

**+Regii+**


	2. Chapter 2: Scene 4 to 6

_I'm sorry it took so long for part 2 to come out. I've been having a lot of problems with things, and since New Year, I lost my writing mojo for a long time. However, here it is everyone: Part 2. I hope you like._

_As I said last chapter, this part pretty much follows some of the game, so expect to see some familiar text from in the game, and also, remember song list is at the end._

_Alright, let's go._

_**Disclaimer:**__ Part 1._

-/-/-/-/-

**Withered Petals**

-/-/-/-/-/-

A few weeks later, I had received word from a soldier that someone had come to see me at the Garden. Puzzled, I had followed the guard to the entrance where, to my surprise, Kai was standing. He was wearing the gray, blue and black armour of the Euros Knights which simply led me to believe he had been promoted recently.

"Kai, what a surprise!" I had said, walking in with a smile; "What brings you here? It's quite unusual to see my friend arou—"

"Heath," Kai cut me off sharply. His voice was still flat and calm, but there was a tone of urgency behind it... and... worry?

"Kai, what's wrong?"

"Heath, we need to talk. Now," Kai walked past me and stepped outside briskly; "And not when the children could walk in."

Puzzled, I turned and followed him, strolling down the path towards town slightly. When we were a suitable distance away, Kai stopped abruptly, making me slow and stop next to him. His eyes were narrow like they normally were, but they were filled with worry, pain and remorse. I suddenly felt a chill go down my spine as I looked at him.

"Kai, what's happened?"

Kai was silent for a moment before looking at me straight in the eye; "I went to your house to check up on Iris like you asked me to."

"Yes," I nodded, a sudden weight dropping into my stomach as I unintentionally reached up to touch the Krystonan at my chin; "Is she okay?"

"..." Kai was silent for a moment, his eyes never leaving mine. From that single look I could tell that this wasn't going to be good.

"...The door was off its hinges. The carpet was torn up. Plants uprooted, walls cracked, a window smashed..." Kai continued on with the list, my heart slowly beating faster and faster as he said these things; "Plant pots smashed, vases shattered, tables broken—"

"What about Iris?" I cried, grabbing his shoulder, "Kai, is Iris okay?"

Kai gave me another look, and at the single look, before he even opened his mouth, I felt my world splinter slightly.

"...Gone."

My world shattered around me. My eyes widened as my mouth tried to force words out but my voice box wouldn't make them. A cold sweat begin to slide over me, my hand shaking a bit as I pulled it away from him. Kai seemed to expect this reaction and slowly began to continue.

"I checked everywhere. The town, the forest, even the mountains... nothing. Heath, Iris has gone and I don't know what we can do."

"We have to search!" I began to get frantic; "Kai, we need to get the church to help me search!"

"Not you," Kai frowned, "But a squad will be put onto it. More because of it was an Arc Knight's home that was attacked... but I will try to get them to find Iris too."

"Why can't I go?"

"Heath, you have the Garden Children to look after. I have to return to the Euros Knights. We're planning to do some work on the Wind Lapistier in a few months to test its power, and you need to be on call all the time for the Garden Children. Listen to me Heath, I will get the Church to do it. I have already seen Cardinal Kingston, and he says he has sent a about looking for Iris."

I sighed quietly, looking away; "Kai... thanks..."

"I am sorry to bring this news to you, my friend..." Kai frowned at me before adding; "...I am worried about Iris, too. I'm sure the Church will find her, however."

"..." I looked away, beginning to walk back towards the Garden. My world had crumbled within the blink of an eye, my happiness drowned with a single fact. The girl who I had saved, the girl who brought so much love and joy into my life had just gone missing.

And I hadn't been there to protect her.

-/-/-/-/-

Soon after, the Garden Children and I ventured out to the Holy Church. Witch sightings had been on the rise, and I had been ordered to take the Garden Children to eliminate them all. Although that was true, a Witch named Lucia under the cover of a maid had slipped into our ranks and fought alongside us. However, we came across the Witch of Immolation and her and Lucia both vanished. Soon enough, I had to split up from the Garden Children to return to the Church. The Children were named 'The Fatal Hounds' or 'God's Hunting Dogs' and were ordered to recover Lapistier – magical rocks with untold power of the elements - and defeat Witches.

When I returned to the church, I learned of the attack against the Euros Knights by the Witch of Immolation. Immediately, my thoughts went to Kai and whether he had been killed. Along with that, I began to think about Iris again and how the search for her was going. I asked Kingston, but he said that they still hadn't found anything. My hope was slowly dying, and I soon found myself resigning to the fact that Iris was gone.

However, something was wrong. The Church said they were looking for Iris, but I saw no leads as to showing that they were doing that. I also began to get suspicious of some of Cardinal Kingston's actions; like disbanding me from the Fatal Hounds and making me guard him. It was less of me to guard him, I thought, and more of him keeping an eye out for me. Soon, however, I was told to travel to Jaideth to check out an important facility exploding. When I got near, however, I was told that my own students, the Fatal Hounds, were branded as traitors; fraternising with the witches, our enemies. I didn't really want to go against my students, but I wanted to keep as close to Kingston as I could to keep an eye on his actions.

I arrived in the town to cheers and shouts from the crowd. They were all still horrified about the facility at Jaideth exploding. I said that it was most likely the Witches and that everyone had to calm down and not be frightened. What happened next surprised me. I began to head towards an inn when I felt a hand on my shoulder. Turning, I was surprised to see the most unexpected person standing behind me.

"Hello Heath. Long time no see."

"Kai!" I smiled warmly; "Kai, you survived!"

"But of course..." Kai nodded his head, his arms crossing; "I had to. I wanted to figure out what happened. Your students are here too, Heath."

My eyebrows raised; "The Fatal Hounds?"

"And the witches," Kai nodded and I felt my blood boil. So they really were conspiring with them, "Heath, listen to me. The Church is hiding something and I have a feeling that the Fatal Hounds would know something. I know you may brand them as traitors, but I want some more time to look into Kingston's actions."

"As do I," I nodded firmly; "If that's true, may I ask a favour of you, Kai?"

"Yes."

"Look after them. Make sure they all remain safe and well, and that no harm comes to them."

"I promise I can do that for you, Heath." Kai began to turn, before pausing and turning back; "Heath, what of the search for Iris?"

"...No leads..." I muttered, "The Church said that they're looking, but... I see no sign of them doing so..."

"I see..." Kai frowned, "So you believe that they are not doing as they said they would?"

"That is correct."

"..." Kai scowled a little before shaking his head, "Then it falls onto our shoulders to find her, Heath. She was a sister to us, and she cherished you beyond all else. We have to find her, no matter what."

"Yes... you're right, Kai. I'll do my part from the Church; can you do yours from the Fatal Hounds?"

"I will."

I nodded and bid him farewell. Although our meeting was brief, it was good to know that Kai was still alive. That was at least some weight off of my back. Now I simply had to find the Fatal Hounds. This proved much easier than I thought it would, since instead of myself finding them...

"Sir Heath!"

"Sir Heath?"

...They found me. I turned to see the group running towards me, Alph and Theo in the lead with large smiles on their faces. I wanted to smile back, but what I had said to Kai rang in my head. I had to pretend I wasn't with them... that I was against them.

"Hm? You...!" I pretended to look surprised as the group stopped in front of me; "...What do you want, traitors?"

Alph gasped and took a step back, his eyes widening as I spoke again; "You have ignored your orders and have allowed yourself to be 'charmed' by the Witches you were sent to condemn. I also heard that you attacked Sir Andre of the Zephyroth Knights. Explain yourselves!"

"No, we weren't charmed!" Alph protested. Even now, in front of me, Alph was determined to prove himself, just like he always was; "Lucia and the other Witches helped Theo!"

"Did you ask the Witches to help you, knowing that they were against our God?" I countered and Alph closed his mouth. Instead, Leon took up the post of explaining.

"Wait Sir Heath! The Church was going to use Theo as an experiment! Are you saying we should still have faith in the Church after that?"

"..." I looked at the group quietly. They were branded as traitors, but what they said... sounded oddly convincing. I never trusted Andre myself, and Kingston's bizarre actions had not gone un-noticed... it actually sounded like something they might do.

"Sir," A young, red-headed boy named Nikolai, another of the Garden Children, spoke up, adjusting his glasses, "Are you aware of what the Church did to the town of Jaideth?"

"No..." I admitted quietly, actually a little intrigued now, "Go ahead..."

"The Church created the Steel Witch in Jaideth," Lucia spoke up, looking at me in the eyes. A steel Witch? I had heard nothing of this what-so-ever. If the Church was making something like that, surely I would've been informed of it being so close to Kingston.

"A 'Steel Witch'?" I asked curiously, lowering my spear, "What...?"

"Jaideth was levelled because the Steel Witch lost control," Lucia continued, "It couldn't control its power and that's why the facility was destroyed."

"These lovely Witches would never do such things!" Nikolai cried in protest, gesturing to the three Witches with them, "They are all kind people..." Wait a moment. If they were all kind, then what about...?

"...Then how do you explain the acts of the 'Witch of Immolation'?" I countered, folding my arms as Nikolai closed his mouth; "She single-handedly wiped out the Euros Knights."

"I apologize for what Vanessa has done..." Piped up the smallest in the group, a blue-haired Witch wearing all red with a palm leaf that looked no older than Theo; "But Witches are not the enemies of humanity! In fact, we've been helping—"

"I will not fall for your blasphemous words!" I cried out suddenly, remembering that they were supposed to be our enemies; "I have seen many people who have suffered from the Witches, and I will never forgive the Witches for what they have done! I swear to GOD, that I will see all Witches punished for their crimes!"

"Sir Heath!" Alph yelled angrily, his hand moving to his blade; "The Witches aren't our enemies!"

"Silence, Alph! Not another word..." I growled, reaching for my own spear, "Are you going to say that the enemy is the Church? Or God HIMSELF, perhaps?"

"Wh-what?" Alph's eyes widened, "I... S-Sir Heath...!"

"Do you expect me to listen to this nonsense?" I asked angrily, glaring at him, "I see that you have become too close to the Witches! You are no longer my students!" I took a deep breath, knowing that I had to do this to try to convince them that I wasn't with them anymore. I needed more time.

'_Forgive me, Alph...'_ I thought as I opened my mouth; "I will punish you with my own hand!"

"S-Sir Heath! Y-you would actually fight against us?" Alph cried in alarm, taking a step back, "N-no way!"

"Silence, Alph! I am tired of hearing your protests!" I growled, grabbing my spear and pointing it at him. Alph froze for a moment before suddenly drawing his sword and pointing it at me.

"Then I will fight YOU!" The entire group behind him looked shocked, and even I felt a little surprised. The last time Alph had challenged me, I had lost because I wanted him to boost his confidence. However, I had no choice now but to use my full power against him.

"Brother!" Theo cried as Alph took a step forward, "What are you doing?"

"Alph!" Leon took a step aside as Alph walked up to me, taking a fighting stance; "Y-you can't be serious!"

"Everyone step aside!" Alph yelled angrily, grabbing his blade and pointing it at me, "This is between me and Sir Heath!"

"I am the Cleansing Flame!" I roared angrily, holding my spear up to the sky, "I will not be defeated by a traitor of God!"

"If I win, please Sir Heath, just LISTEN to us!" Alph yelled angrily, glaring me down.

"This is it, Alph..." I muttered before running at him. The two of us crossed blades, and I was surprised by how much he'd grown. I brought my spear down so it missed his face by mere inches as he jumped back, drawing the rifle on his back and firing at me. The rifle wasn't deadly, but it was enough to dent my armour and make me stagger. I dived forward, jabbing my spear at him, but Alph once again out-manoeuvred me, knocking me to the ground. I raised my spear to block Alph's slash, but the spear was knocked clean out of my hand as it clattered across the cobbled walkway. I stared at Alph in shock as his sword went close to my throat. As I leaned back in defeat, Alph seemed to notice the flowers in my armour around my neck and blinked a little before shaking it off.

"Sir Heath!" Alph cried, even though he was close to me. I, as an honourable knight, played to my side of the bargain and looked at him as he spoke, "God is going to consume the planet, not save it! We're supposed to prevent God from waking up!"

This surprised me. I had heard nothing about this in any of the Church's books or records, and now Alph was proclaiming this in front of me... where he had learnt this was beyond me, but the seriousness in his voice convinced me a bit. I shook it off and kept my composure.

"So what?"

"H-huh?" Alph seemed surprised at my remark, lowering his sword. I quickly backed away and grabbed my spear, standing up; "What do you mean, 'so what'?"

"Even if that were true, that doesn't matter to me..." For a sudden moment, the moment when I had learnt of Iris' disappearance flashed into my mind and how empty I had felt then. I opened my mouth to speak, but my words caught in my throat briefly. The smiling face... the joyous laugh, the love of flowers...

"Sir Heath?" I shook it off as Alph's voice caught me out of my stupor and I returned to my senses. I was supposed to think he was a traitor and show no weaknesses.

"I have no doubt in my mind that the Witches are evil; they still cause innocent people suffering. It is my duty, my mission and my wish to purge them from this world!"

"S-Sir Heath..." Alph looked hurt, slowly taking a few steps back. I hated seeing him like this, but I knew I had no choice but to do it. I raised my spear to charge when a sudden voice cut me off.

"That was quite entertaining."

Alph wheeled around and gasped as I looked up. Standing not too far away was Cardinal Kingston himself, in his royal splendour. Somebody else was behind him, but I couldn't make them out due to Kingston blocking them from view.

"Cardinal Kingston?"

"I have always enjoyed watching a student pit himself against his Master..." Kingston smiled, and it was one of those smiles that unnerved me, a creepy smile that sent chills down my spine.

"Kingston!" Yelled Alph angrily, drawing his rifle and pointing it at him. I went to stop him, but something stopped me otherwise. Kingston began to speak to Alph, but I seemed distracted by the person behind him. It was like Kingston was deliberately blocking me from seeing them.

"Do not fail me this time!" Kingston suddenly yelled, pointing at the Fatal Hounds. The person moved out from behind them, and what I saw horrified me.

A girl, a girl with long purple hair, a mechanical helmet, dilated blue eyes with a black-and-silver robe, mechanical arms and legs to match. My eyes widened as I saw her.

"I WILL SUCCEED." The girl said in a monotone sounding voice, raising an arm. The voice sounded familiar, too familiar. Purple hair, done in two buns... blue eyes, a young girl...

"That's the Steel Witch!" Alph cried as the rest of the group grabbed their respective weapons.

"S-Steel Witch? Her...?" I looked at her and at Kingston's next words, everything clicked.

"Now Iris! Destroy them all!"

IRIS. That was it; the one word that had embedded itself in my mind. Images shot into my head; a girl in a white dress unconscious in a field of flowers, the same girl hugging me sobbing as an orphan, the flowers, the joy, the life in her, the red cape, the small flowers in my armour... her gentle smile, her beautiful blue eyes, her purple hair tied into two buns and the gentle graze of her lips on my cheek. Looking at the girl now, it clicked and the resemblance was finalized.

"I OBEY," The girl-machine raised her arm, a small compartment in it sliding open to reveal cannon that began to spark; "ACTIVATING CANNON MODE. PREPARE TO DIE."

"I-Iris...?" My eyes widened as I stepped forward, "I-is that you, IRIS?"

The robot jumped, her eyes shooting over to me and an image of Iris' face appeared in my mind's eye, smiling and joyful. Whatever this was... it wasn't Iris. It was a monster. Did... the Church do this to her?

Did the Church... LIE TO ME?

"S-SIR HEATH?" Iris stared at me before beginning to spark and taking a few steps back; "ERROR, ERROR."

"Iris?" 

"ERROR IN EMOTION CHIP. ATTACK SUBROUTINE ABORTED. ATTACK FAILED." Iris shuddered and looked at me quietly. At that moment, a connection seemed to form between the two of us. I saw pain and sorrow in her eyes, and an unheard cry for help that tore my heart clean in half. Alph and the others were all looking between myself and Iris in confusion, where-as Kingston simply scowled at Iris angrily. My heart caught in my throat as my spear dropped to the floor, causing me to stagger to my knees, clutching the red cloak over my left shoulder to prove that I wasn't dreaming. Iris... the girl who had gone missing this whole time... had been with the Church? And they'd done THIS to her?

"I see that we couldn't completely erase her memory..." Kingston scowled angrily, glaring at Iris with irritation; "Iris, respond!"

"ERROR. ERROR..." Iris shook on the spot, "SYSTEMS... SHUT DOWN... Heath..." Iris shuddered before suddenly collapsing onto the ground in a heap. I started forward, but Kingston stood in front, blocking me from her.

"Iris!"

"Tch... useless scrap witch!" Kingston snarled angrily, kicking Iris' unconscious body and making my rage double; "...Oh well. I have ordered the Crow Knights to this town, in case something like this occurred."

"Wh-what?" I heard the little Witch who had spoken up earlier cry. With a thunder of footsteps, I knew what was happening.

"Oh lookie, we're surrounded..." The other blue-haired witch yawned, leaning back on her magic carpet with a sleepy expression on her face. Kingston grinned wildly, pointing at me.

"Now Heath! Command your soldiers! Order them to capture the Witches AND the Traitors!"

I couldn't respond. My mind was too pre-occupied on other things; I barely even heard his command, _'Iris... Iris, what did they do to you?'_

"Do it, if you've got the stones!" A large, light-green haired woman growled, raising her fists; "The Nature Witch will not fall to you puny humans!"

"No Mavi...!" The Witch on the carpet complained, shaking her head; "If you fight with your full power, you could easily destroy this town..."

"No, don't do it Mavi!" Lucia cried, grabbing one of the older Witch's wrists and pulling her back.

"But..." Mavi looked irritated at the other two Witches stopping her, but Kingston drowned out their squabbling.

"What the hell are you DOING HEATH?"

"Ugh..." I stood slowly to my feet, looking down at Iris before turning my hurt expression on the Fatal Hounds; my own ex-students. Alph looked just as hurt as I was, Theo was cowering away from all of the guards, Cecille huddled behind Leon, Leon looked like he was about to slice some heads off, Saki was scoping for a way out and Nikolai was watching the Witches argue. The only person who caught my eye was Lucia, and I saw a look of sudden understanding come across her face as she looked at me.

As well as the pain of Iris... I didn't want to hurt them either.

"Hmph!" Kingston growled, pushing Iris aside with his foot, "Never mind then. I will do it!" Kingston turned and faced the army, "Knights who serve the light of God! Capture these Witches!"

"Yes Your Holiness!" One of the Knights called, turning; "Okay everyone; we gotta catch 'em all!"

"CHARGE!"

I looked on as the scuffle began, Knights pushing past Knights, the circle getting smaller and the Fatal Hounds and the Witches all packed into the middle. I wanted to help, I wanted to do something... but my mind was still too focused on trying to process the information I just received. Iris wasn't dead. Iris wasn't lost. She had been taken and experimented on by the Church... and I was working for them, and knew nothing.

I was such a fool.

A ray of hope suddenly shone through me as I saw Kai, wielding his samurai sword like an expert, dart through the Knights and cutting a way out in their path, making it to the Witches and children. The group conversed quickly in the confusion before turning and bolting out of the death trap and out of harm's way. A small weight was lifted from me as I sighed, my head dropping down again.

"Thank you... Kai..."

"Argh! What are you DOING? Don't let them get away!" Kingston bellowed angrily, "You... bumbling fools!"

In the confusion, I turned and sprinted away, my mind still jarred with emotional trauma. Kingston... the Church... Kai... Alph...

...Iris... she was still alive... I turned my head to look back, and saw a small glimmer of life from Iris as she looked over at me, her eyes showing hidden emotions even from a distance, emotions that I had never wanted her to feel ever again.

Pain... and fear.

-/-/-/-/-/-

I ran... that's all I can remember of that part. For ages, I kept running, into the forest and towards the centre of it before I finally collapsed into a heap in a ditch. So much had happened within the past few weeks that I couldn't even think straight anymore. I finally let my emotions overtake me, and with nobody around to watch... I burst into tears.

I cried for a good few minutes, just letting everything out. No-one was around to hear me, and for once, I felt truly alone and left out. My students were against me and I them, Iris had been manipulated into a machine... and now I had no idea in what to do.

Something hit my hand as I rested it in my lap, and I looked down. The Krystonan had fallen from my neck and now rested in my open palm. Staring at it, I could see Iris' face staring back at me, perfectly clear against my clouded vision from my tears. It took me a few minutes to think straight and finally begin to piece things together.

First of all, Iris was alive; that was the most important thing to me. Iris was alive and, although not well, was still here. I gulped back more tears, and suddenly felt anger overcome me. The Church... they had lied to me all of this time. They had lied about looking for Iris, they had lied about everything... and what Alph had said earlier, about them creating Iris... was that true as well? I guessed it was, after seeing her.

Something hit me just then, and something that I would remember for the rest of my life. Something that made me finally realise what I had to do.

"_Then I will fight you! Everyone step aside, this is between me and Sir Heath!"_

"...Alph..." I looked back the way I had come, finally getting to my feet. Alph had, in all respects, shown more courage than even I had; fighting against his own teacher on pure resolve alone, wanting to prove the truth and be a good leader... but more than that.

He wanted to do what he thought was right.

A wash of understanding took over me. I had to do what I thought was right. I couldn't live under the Church's false lies anymore, and I couldn't stop going forward. My initial resolve from before came back, what I had fought for since I met her.

I wasn't like other soldiers. I didn't fight for honour or glory, or for the land.

...I fought for Iris... and no matter what she looked like now, she was still Iris to me.

Grabbing my spear, I began to run towards the closest area; the Altar of Souls. I needed to find Alph and the others, and also Iris too.

I needed to set things right.

-/-/-/-/-

**Track listings:**

"The Interstice of Light and Dark" (Scene 4) Track 22

"A desperate battle without end" (Scene 5, Act 2) Track 15

"Failing to Redeem the sin" (Scene 5, Act 3) Track 34

"The Night We Can't Meet With" (Scene 6) Track 20

**Again, sorry for the long delay everyone. Part three... I'll try to get it up by the end of January/beginning of February. Again, I'm really sorry about the lateness of this. I hope you enjoyed it!**

**+Regii the Lunar Wolf+**


	3. Chapter 3: Scene 7

_I, personally, would like to apologize for the long wait for Chapter three. I know several people were wanting it to be updated quickly, and i even put 'end of January/beginning of February'. However, three things happened in one go._

_Number one, I lost the work I'd done for Chapter three when I went home one time and my school laptop didn't save it properly. That was a real kick to my motivation. Number two was my depression and other problems started kicking in. Number three, I got both Pokemon Black and Dissidia: Final Fantasy 012 on pretty much the same days, so I was playing those constantly and kept putting it off. Again, I'm really sorry._

_So, what do I have to say about this chapter? It follows the main story, but starts going a bit AU towards the end. Don't worry, I planned for that to happen. You'll all see what I'm talking about towards the end._

_Also, be warned; this chapter's kinda short, but only because the next one (or one after, I forgot) will be epic. Trust me on this one, and I'll try to update faster. Although, I do have another story I'm currently doing, but that's not the point, hahaha. Also, remember song list at the end._

_**Disclaimer:**__ See Chapter one._

-/-/-/-/-

**Withered Petals**

-/-/-/-/-

I ran as fast as I could towards the Altar of Souls. As well as it being the closest place to head to, I had a strange feeling that the Witches and Fatal Hounds would head in this direction. If they believed what Alph said, then they would try to get there. After all, it was originally made for creating sacrifices to God. There'd be no question in them heading there to try to stop any more sacrifices, or to destroy the place if it came to an extreme. Knowing about the Witch of Immolation's power, I had no idea what all of these other witches were capable of.

As well as meeting them, I had to locate Iris. There was no choice in hiding the truth from them now; they knew that Iris and I were somehow connected. Iris was their enemy, made so by Kingston and the Church. I, although against the Church, wished to save Iris and take her with us; I hoped to rejoin the Fatal Hounds and the Witches, with Iris, and we would defeat Zaheal with them. We would be together again, and I'd do something I failed to do before.

Protect her.

For once, luck was on my side. I spotted a large group of the Church's soldiers heading towards the Altar, with the burly armoured man Sir Andre as their captain. A devious plan concocted itself in my head as I hurried over; "Sir Andre!"

Sir Andre turned his head and scowled as I approached him, causing the other soldiers to stop behind him; "Ah! Arc Knight Heath, I presume! What happened to you? The Cardinal has been... most appalled with you disappearance after Madrasta! What happened?"

I was expecting this and, although I disliked lying, I forced the words from my mouth; "Alph of the Fatal Hounds proved much stronger than I anticipated. I retreated, but as I did, I was cornered by some fiends. Weakened as I was, I took to refuge in an abandoned hut until my wounds healed before destroying the fiends and making my way to your troupe. I trust you have been given the orders by Cardinal Kingston?"

"Typical Arc Knight, cowardly as usual..." Andre scoffed loudly, and my eyes narrowed; "Hah! And why exactly are YOU here, Arc Knight?"

"I was told to relieve you of your duties," I frowned, faking sincerity in my voice; "The Cardinal seemed displeased with my actions and wanted me to take this troupe to their destination in your place. He sent you do do your next duty... whatever it was. The messenger was very vague, I'm afraid. May you fill me in?"

"Tch..." Andre rolled his eyes and flexed his huge arms, being at least a foot taller than me; "Well, although I would love to see those traitors decimated by my own hands... I guess the irony of being defeated by their former teacher would be something the Cardinal would laugh in... heheheh... well, let me say that I hand command of this troupe to you. You are headed to the Altar of Souls, Arc Knight. Five-hundred troops are to surround the area and hold the Witches and Traitors there to be arrested and taken away when Cardinal Kingston arrives. Understood?"

"Understood," I nodded as I took a step forward to take his place; "Towards your next duty then, Sir Andre, as of the Cardinal's orders. Good luck with your work."

"No need for luck!" Andre boasted as he strolled away; "Nobody will get to the Holy City of San Reise! None of those puny witches and traitors can get past... these MANLY BICEPS! RUAAAAAGH!"

I face-faulted and stood until he was gone before turning to the troops, who were all looking a bit puzzled; "My apologies to all of you! I would have been here sooner, but due to circumstances, I was unable to take you. Thanks to Sir Andre for taking you this far. Now, what is our mission?"

"To protect the light and condemn the dark!" Was the response that I received from them. I resisted the urge to bite back my hateful words and nodded in response, turning and waving an arm.

"Very well!" I called back; "Men, follow me to the Altar! We shall capture the witches and the traitors!"

'_No we won't...'_ my mind corrected me as we began to march; _'we're going to get the Fatal Hounds and the Witches to understand and take me with them. I can no longer live under the regulations of the Church... not after what they did to Iris.'_

As we approached the Altar, my eye caught sight of a figure on top of a pile of rubble. I instantly recognised the dark hair and purple outfit as Saki's, the ninja of the Fatal Hounds. As I saw her, her eyes considerably widened even from this distance and she promptly ran back into the heart of the ruins. I smiled to myself; _'so you're all here... good. I thought I wouldn't be in time.'_

We began to take the main road in, not even trying to hide for cover. I could see the Fatal Hounds up ahead in the main square of the ruins; they all seemed to be surrounding something on the ground, but that wasn't the first thing that caught my attention.

The first thing I noticed was that the tall, burly red-headed soldier Leon was no longer with them. This worried me since I thought that he could have been injured or much worse. The second thing I noticed was the addition of two new women – I could only guess that they were witches – and the absence of Cecille, too. Both of the absences worried me, but the biggest change was Alph himself.

No longer dressed in the armour that he normally wore, Alph was now adorned in bright blue and white armoured robes and had a much sharper and mature look to him. It was as if, even though the area was dark, he glowed with some internal light of his own. Behind him too, although very difficult to spot behind his rifle holster was a small, spiky tail. His hair seemed a bit longer, and his eyes seemed to glow with an intense blue that was visible even from this distance. I ordered the troops to take their respective positions around the outskirts of the area and continued to head towards the main area of the ruins, stopping and clearing my throat loudly.

'_I just need to get you all out of here so I can speak to you... then we can figure things out from there...'_ I shook my head of those thoughts as I opened my mouth.

"Witches! Traitors! Hear my words!" I yelled, catching their attention instantly. Alph wheeled around, and I was shocked briefly by the new ferocity in his eyes. That look wasn't of a boy who had been branded a traitor... it was the look of a man who had decided on the path of what he wished for and would oppose anyone in his way. It wasn't even the look of a man.

It looked like the look a dragon may give its prey before destroying it. It startled me slightly at how much he'd changed.

"Sir Heath!" Alph yelled angrily, drawing his blade instantly without any hesitation at all. Behind him, I saw the white-haired witch Lucia looking at him with what appeared to be worry, but an adoring smile upon her face.

"You have been surrounded by five-hundred of our troops!" I yelled, getting my composure back; "There is no way to escape! Give up peacefully!"

"We'll never give up! We're going to defeat God!" Alph yelled, pointing his blade at me angrily; "And if you try to stop us, we'll defeat you too Sir Heath!"

I sighed, bringing my spear in front of me to point at him in return and slowly admitted; "I admire your dedication, Alph... however, you and the Witches will all die right here!"

Alph scowled angrily, taking a fighting stance against me again. The two of us stared each other down angrily, beginning to advance towards each other. I began to prepare an attack, but a single sound from behind Alph stopped me instantly in my tracks and made all thoughts of fighting Alph fade from my mind.

"SIR... HEATH...?"

The 'object' that I thought they had been encircling slowly pushed its way to its feet. Despite all of the cuts and marks on the metal and the pained expression on her face, that metallic figure with the purple hair could be one person and one alone, her vivid blue eyes staring over at me.

"Iris?" I called suddenly, forgetting all about Alph for a moment; "Is that you?"

"SIR HEATH..." Iris gasped, and I could see that she was severely wounded from a battle that must have been with the Witches and the Fatal Hounds; "A-ALIVE... HOW...?"

I stared at her in disbelief, utter confusion drawing in my mind; Alive? Of course I was alive, she saw me not a day ago. What was she talking about?

"Wh-what are you talking about, Iris?" I asked, staring at her and lowering my spear; "Of course I'm alive! Why wouldn't I be? I'm relieved to see you, though!"

Despite her pain and metallic features, I could just about see a small smile flicker across Iris' features, and a vision of the beautiful girl's face shone in my mind's eye, causing me to falter rapidly. I was about to run to her when a new, completely different voice caught my attention.

"Yahoo! Bonjour, boys and girls! How are you doing?" The voice spoke in a typical 'valley-girl' accent and was so shrill and annoying that it sounded like nails being dragged down a chalk board. Turning my head rapidly, I saw a small girl with white hair, tanned skin and a white-and-black robe standing not too far away from us. The girl was floating a few inches off of the ground and had a large pair of wings and a halo, signifying that she could only be an angel.

"I-it's the angel!" Alph snarled, pointing his sword at her. Obviously, she'd encountered the Fatal Hounds before now. What caught me by surprise though was the figure who stepped out from behind the angel, wearing the familiar red robes, large hat and creepy face of the single person who I despised on the planet.

"Witches, traitors, and five-hundred fools..." Cardinal Kingston smirked widely; "I see that junk witch—" At this, he gestured to Iris which made my blood boil, "—is here too. I'm pleased to see so many ants here."

"Your eminence!" I said in more surprise and hatred than anything else; "Why are you here?"

"Strange..." Kingston looked at me with a curious look; "I thought we'd lost you. I thought Andre was taking the troops here... well, never mind."

"You didn't answer my question..." My anger rose suddenly and I took a step towards him only to have my path blocked by the angel; "Why are you here, Kingston?"

"That's CARDINAL Kingston, Heath!" Kingston spat at me, and I glowered in response; "As to why I am here... why, it's to watch the sacrifice, of course."

"S-Sacrifice?" My eyes shot open, "Wh-what do you mean?"

"Ahahahaha!" The angel burst into high-pitched laughter that was joined by Kingston's mirthless chuckle; "Everyone here will have their souls sacrificed to Master God! Master God's gonna be, like, so stoked to see those ugly ol' Witches being sacrificed!"

"...Okay, you've lost me." I scowled; this angel was already getting on my nerves, "Again, what on Earth are you talking about?"

Kingston sighed; "Think about it, Heath. All of your lives will be offered to God. You useless idiots can at least DIE when I ask, yes?"

"Then..." My eyes widened; "The orders to defeat and capture the Witches here were...!"

"It was a ruse, of course." Kingston smirked, and my spear instantly flew into my hand. As soon as it did however, I felt a blast of energy hit my chest, and in a cloud of pink dust, the angel had thrown me backwards onto the ground. Kingston let out a hollow laugh and turned, beginning to walk away; "I plan on offering all of your souls to God as sacrifices. Quite honestly, I'm surprised the Witches are even here actually," Kingston stretched his arms out and called out loudly, his voice sounding almost demented and crazed as I stared at him, open mouthed.

"I have no doubt that God divinely predicted all of this! Hahahahaha!"

"You..." I hissed, struggling to prop myself up on my shoulders; "Y-you plan to create five-hundred victims?"

"Don't be so emotional, Heath." Kingston looked at me straight in the eye, and a chill shot right down my spine; "It's only five-hundred or so..."

"...ONLY?" I screamed, my eyes bulging with fury and shock. This man, this... holy man of the Church... was about to kill five-hundred innocent people for God? He was going to kill five-hundred people because he wanted to feed our GOD?

"Now, Priel!" Kingston snapped at the angel; "Let us begin the sacrificial rites!"

"Like, sure thing Kingy!" The angel laughed happily, holding up her hands; "Arrivederci, losers!" A huge ball of energy began to appear in her hands as she held it up above her head, a small protective barrier surrounding her and Kingston as they began to retreat; "One, two... and, like, KABOOOOOOM!"

At the final shout, her fist swung down and slammed into the ground, a huge pulse of light slowly expanding from her fist and rippling along the ground, sending almost a wall of light straight towards us. From behind me, I heard one of the Fatal Hounds' group call out in panic and running footsteps. I was the closest to the wall of light, and unable to move, I could do nothing but watch it move towards me rapidly, closing my eyes to await the inevitable.

'_So this is it... Alph, Theo, everybody... I'm sorry... Kai, too... and Iris especially... I couldn't save you. I couldn't help you... I couldn't do anything...'_ I laid back on the ground, awaiting my fate.

'_Goodbye, iris... I await to see you in the next life...'_

"SIR HEEEEEEEATH!" A shrill scream cut the deafening roar of the light wave as something – or someone – threw itself over me. I suddenly felt myself enveloped in warmth, slowly spreading over my body. Even as my eyes were squeezed shut, the light was so bright that I could feel it burning through my eyelids, blinding me even though my eyes were shut.

It was only then that I heard them... the screams. The troops who I had unknowingly brought to their doom – men who could have had wives, children, futures that they wished for, simply here to gain a living – all of them were now being destroyed simply because of Kingston. Five-hundred innocent lives wiped out in the blink of an eye.

This colossal power... was terrifying, yet awe-inspiringly destructive at the same time. Even I was afraid.

Almost as soon as it had started, it stopped. My vision was starry and shapes swam in my vision. As it slowly cleared, I turned my head and, to my amazement, found myself still alive. It took a second for me however to wish that I wasn't.

Surrounding me on all sides... was death. Charred bodies of innocent soldiers lay strewn across the area, buildings crumbled and destroyed, reduced to nothing but rubble and dust. Frantically, I swivelled my head around to look for any other survivors, my stomach beginning to churn at the sudden smell of burnt flesh hitting my nostrils.

To my amazement, I spotted the Fatal Hounds and the Witches huddled in a group further away, still standing. It seemed as though one of the newer Witches had created a barrier of some sort to protect them against the blast too. However, they were too far away for them to have covered me with the barrier... if that was so, then how come I was still alive too?

"Look!" I heard as my hearing suddenly returned to me, letting Theo's voice hit my ears; "It's Sir Heath!"

"Is..." Alph's voice trailed across as they all turned to look at me, "Is he with... the Steel Witch?"

'_Steel Witch...? ...Wait, IRIS!'_ I turned frantically and, to my shock, found the girl lying on the dirt next to me, lifeless and un-moving. I quickly sat up, ignoring the pain from the angel's attack earlier and picked up Iris, pulling her into my arms; "Iris! Iris, wake up! Please!"

Slowly, Iris' eyes opened, but they were much more distant than before. The life seemed to be draining from her, and my blood went chilly as I stared into the fading blue irises.

"H-Heath..." She whispered, staring up at me, her voice sounding like it was straining to talk; "I-I'm glad... that you are... still alive... Bzzt... H-Heath..."

It only took a few seconds for me to realise what she was talking about. That final shout before the light had struck me... that warm glow, the metal weight on top of me...

Like the Witch with the others, Iris must have made some barrier spell to protect me... she saved my life.

"You... you saved my life with your barrier spell, Iris... didn't you?" I asked quietly, my voice having lost all of its emotions now. I could hear the others approaching from behind me, but nothing mattered anymore. Nothing mattered to me at all at the moment except Iris. The young girl I had known for so long slowly nodded, still giving me that weak smile, and I bowed my head. All of this time, I had tried to protect her... and in the end, she had been the one to save my life.

"Th-thank you, Iris..."

"Heath..." Iris whispered, her voice beginning to grow faint; "I'm... happy... to see you again..."

"I-Iris..." I felt tears suddenly stream down my face as I held onto her for dear life, the exact same way I had cradled her when I found her in the field of flowers all of those years ago; "If I had known... s-sooner... y-you wouldn't BE like this!"

"H-Heath..." Iris whispered, her voice fading out almost completely; "I... l-lo... lov..." Her voice jittered again, and she closed her eyes slowly, letting her body relax in my arms.

"G-Good... bye..." her voice was barely audible now as I felt my pain and anguish overtake me; "...tha... thank... y-y-you... for... every... thing... ...He... eeeaaaaaahhh..." her voice faded completely as her body finally stopped moving, becoming completely limp in my arms. She gave one final sigh... before she lay still.

"Iris...?" I shook her, hoping for anything – any sign of life at all, anything to tell me she was still with me; "Iris? No, don't go! IRIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIS!"

With a light flash, something floated gently out of Iris' chest and hit the dirt not too far away. A deathly silence hit the area as I simply sat there, cradling Iris in my arms. I could feel her light frame resting against my chest, just like it had been when I first picked her up from finding her. Her body was now lifeless and empty, simply laying in my arms.

She was gone. Iris, the girl who I had saved so long ago, the girl who had become such a part of my life for so long had been snatched away from me in a cruel twist of fate, used against my students as a crude lab experiment and had finally sacrificed herself to save my life.

"The Steel Witch..." I heard Lucia whisper from behind me before correcting herself; "...I-Iris' body... has stopped... she used the last of her strength to protect Heath..."

"Isn't that..." Theo asked as Alph bent down to pick up what had come out of Iris, "The... Thunder Lapistier...?"

"The Lapistier that had been placed inside her..." The newest Witch said, her voice sounding oddly familiar, "Poor Iris... the Church, they... they did this to her... How cruel!"

"Forgive me, Iris..." I croaked out, my face burying into her stomach quietly. Despite her having died, her body was still warm to the touch, and I cradled her as if thinking that if I let go, I would lose her forever.

"Um..." Alph leaned down slightly, kneeling in front of me. I looked up at him slowly, and his eyes widened at the obvious look of pain and sadness on my face. His features, although still hardened like I'd seen them earlier, softened considerably, obviously from seeing me so distraught; "Sir Heath... who was Iris...?"

"Alph!" Lucia hissed angrily; "Listen to yourself! Sir Heath obviously needs some time to be with her... let him have it."

"...No..." I whispered, rubbing my eyes with my hand and gently reaching up to touch the Krystonan at my neck; "You... you all have a right to know. She's... someone who I've never told you about..." I looked up at the group, and everyone – even the Witches – fell silent as I steadily spoke.

"I... found her as an orphan. She was a kind girl who loved flowers... she grew to love me as an older brother... and perhaps something more..." I stared down at Iris' face. Even in her rest, Iris' face was still perfectly innocent and beautiful; "but then... it happened."

"What did...?" Alph knelt back in front of me, staring at me intently. I looked back into his eyes and saw the determination that I'd seen so many times before; determination to keep fighting. Iris gave me the determination I needed to keep going, and I wasn't about to lose that now.

"The Church... they did this to her! Damn them!" My fist clenched furiously as I felt my anger boil beyond its limits; "I'll never forgive Kingston for this! NEVER!"

"Heath..." I felt Kai kneel down and rest a hand on my shoulder. I slowly looked up at him and forced a smile across my features.

"Kai... thank you for protecting Alph and the others for me."

"Think nothing of it," Kai shrugged, returning a thin ghost of a smile; "I was simply doing my friend a favour... I'm sorry things didn't turn out as planned..." He knelt down and touched Iris' face gently; "She always called me older brother. I never said... but I always liked that nickname. I was glad to have Iris as my sister."

"A favour?" Nikolai asked, "Whatever do you mean?"

"I asked Kai to look after you..." I stood up slowly, still cradling Iris' body in my arms. The others all looked generally shocked, especially Alph who seemed to be piecing everything back together; I couldn't help but smile at Alph's slow thought process.

"You... asked him to protect us?" Alph stared at me in confusion, his eyes widening; "But I thought you were on the Church's side, Sir Heath?"

"I was suspicious of Kingston's odd actions when I worked for him," I explained clearly, shaking my head to try and clear it a little; "I began to investigate Kingston in secret. I believe he began to sense my dis-trust, and thus tried to keep you away from me... in order to keep you on his side. However, you seemed to have figured out the truth on your own..." I smiled at Alph a smile that I had been holding back for quite some time; "I knew I chose correctly when choosing a leader for the Fatal Hounds, Alph. You've kept up such strength, even against your own teacher. Not many people at your age can say that they've done that. I'm very impressed. I wanted to join you so that we could fight together, however I had to remain in the Church to reveal Kingston's deception. That is why I asked my old friend Kai to protect you all."

"So you were just pretending to hate us in Madrasta?" Theo asked, his eyes shining brightly. Seeing their faces light up like this made me realise that going back with them would be the best thing I could possibly do at this point; something I had wanted to do since I'd left them.

"Yes Theo, that's correct."

"Wow!" Theo grinned up at me; "Sir Heath, I was completely fooled!"

"I apologize for that," I muttered sheepishly, looking away. My eyes fell onto Iris' sleeping face, and something suddenly struck me. From all of this talking, if Iris was dead, then she would have gotten colder... but she was still very warm to the touch. It almost seemed like she was awake...

Was she... still alive?

"I knew Sir Heath was on our side this whole time!" Alph grinned, although I could hear the uncertainty in his voice and caught the smirk that Lucia shot towards him.

"Really now?" The white-haired Witch smirked slightly, "Because I seem to remember a certain someone crying over Sir Heath..."

"Sh-shut up!" Alph hissed, elbowing the Witch lightly and flushing a bright pink. I couldn't help but chuckle at Alph's embarrassment and turned to look around at the group.

"But, Kai-Banzai-San!" The little water Witch in red piped up, "How'dya manage to find us?"

"She's right. We had been in the Witch village for a while," Lucia added, tilting her head. Kai seemed to shift a little at the question, and I raised an eyebrow.

"...I was heading to Jeidath," Kai muttered, "I heard the Witches had appeared there. I was on my way there; it was only luck that I found you in Madrasta."

This caught my attention briefly; "Oh, really? I thought you might have been following them ever since I left their group..."

"I apologize..." Kai shook his head slightly and looked away. The new blonde Witch with glasses gave a broad smile around at us, and it only just dawned on me now.

'_This Witch... she looks like Cecille... she even SOUNDS like Cecille... but it can't be her, can it?'_

"Then it must have been fate that brought us together!" The Witch said, smiling broadly around at us all, "Fate always leads us to the right solutions!"

"So Sir Heath..." Nikolai rubbed his glasses on his tunic before replacing them; "What is Kingston planning to do, exactly?"

"I'm not completely one-hundred per cent sure," I admitted, turning a little; "But I believe he's planning to re-awaken God..." at my words, the Fatal Hounds all gasped and the Witches gained a dark look across their faces.

"As I thought..." The new Witch shook her head slowly, "All of these sacrifices here were made to feed God's hunger for souls..."

"At first, it seemed he was just ordering the Round Table Council and ordering them to conduct research on the Lapistier and Rune energy..." I muttered, referring to the council inside the main body of the Church; "but his actions began to grow more and more disturbing... first the Euros Knights testing the Wind Lapistier... wanting Theo's arm next, and then..." My voice faltered as I stared down at Iris sadly, her body still cradled in my arms. I didn't want to put her down, but I knew I had to eventually.

She had gone... there was no way to bring her back now.

"...He made Iris... into the Steel Witch..." I forced myself to go on talking, forcing the wallowing sadness back down; "a-and now he's just sacrificed hundreds of lives to feed God's hunger! This cannot be forgiven!" I snarled suddenly, grabbing my spear and holding it up; "I swear! Not to God, but under the flag of JUSTICE that I will have Kingston punished for what he has done, and to have Iris' death be avenged! God will not resurface whilst I'm around!"

"So are you going to join us, Sir Heath?" Alph asked hopefully. I looked around at all of their hopeful faces and gave a hefty nod in response, glaring straight into his eyes with my own determined blue ones.

"Yes Alph. I will. For the sake of Iris, and for all of the troops lost; I will join you all against God. I still stop God's revival... before the Holy Eclipse arrives!"

"Yeah!" Alph cheered, and for the first time in a long time, I was able to share a smile with him. Looking around, I could see I wasn't the only one in the group to have the same smile. Finally, something was going right.

"Then I will take my leave..." Kai said, slowly turning and beginning to walk away. As he did, I reached out to grab him.

"Kai, wait!" I called out; "This isn't going to be easy. I need your help."

"They have you here now, Heath..." Kai shrugged a little, turning to walk away again; "I doubt you'd need my help." He began to walk away again; "Farewell..."

I opened my mouth to call him again, but out of the blue, the small, red-clad Water Witch tackled Kai roughly in the back, grabbing him into a hug, looking like a child not wanting to lose her favourite teddy bear.

"But Kai-saaaaaan!" The girl whined loudly, tears filling up her eyes, "Pleeeeeeaaaase don't gooooo! WAAAAAAAAH!" With that, she suddenly burst into tears, holding onto Kai as if for dear life. I forced back a laugh, knowing Kai wasn't good in these kinds of situations and, some of the other members of the group spotting me, took advantage of this.

"Hey, you!" The tall, green-haired Nature Witch yelled; "How dare you! Making a young girl cry like that; you're a terrible, terrible man!"

"Yeah!" Lucia suddenly rounded on him; "Why'd you have to go and make Mel cry? You won't like Mavi and I when we're angry, Kai! Apologise to her and promise to stay here!"

Kai said nothing to this, simply reaching back and rubbing the back of his head. Theo joined in, walking up to Kai and taking his arm; "Please come with us, Mr. Kai!"

"B-but..." Kai began, but I quickly walked over to him and placed my free hand on his shoulder; "Heath... you too?"

"Kai... come with us..." I muttered, shaking my head; "Even if not for them... do it for Iris..." I looked down at Iris' face and felt the tears threaten to come back to me again. The two of us stared at her silent face for some time, both simply lost in memory and thought. Finally, I saw Kai nod out of the corner of my eye.

"Very well... if not for them, then for Iris... I will."

"Thank you, Kai..." I smiled at him, and the two of us shook hands. It may not have been how we wanted it to be, but the three of us were all back together at last... myself, Kai... and Iris.

"What should we do now, Sir Heath?" Alph asked quietly, walking up behind me. I turned to look at him and sighed quietly, shaking my head. It was then that I remembered what Andre had said; _'The Holy Capital, San Reise...'_

"Let us proceed to the Holy Capital," I sighed gently, beginning to walk towards the town's exit; "The Church are preparing for the Holy Eclipse to awaken God."

"All right! Let's go to San Riese!" Alph called out, beginning to hurry after me. As he did so, he suddenly paused, his eyes falling on Iris still in my arms; "...Sir Heath..."

I knew what he was about to say and lowered my head. I didn't want to, but I knew... I had to let Iris go. I couldn't hold onto her forever.

She had saved my life... and I didn't think she wanted me to spend the rest of it wallowing in pity for her. Sighing gently, I reached down and laid her gently onto the ground. The group all crowded around me, and I cleared my throat to say a few words.

"...Iris..." I stared down at her and felt the same wave of overwhelming sadness hit me; "I'm sorry. I'm sorry I couldn't protect you. I had made a promise to protect you a long time ago..." I trailed off, looking away.

"...You were so energetic and lively. Even after witnessing so much at only twelve, you had overcome so many things and became a beautiful young woman... someone who I was proud to say that... I loved..." Those two words caught in my throat briefly, and i gave a small cough, feeling one of the built-up tears escape my eyes.

"But now... after so much pain..." I trailed off, looking at the dirt beneath my feet; "...Maybe this is the best for you. After everything Kingston put you through... kidnapping, experimenting, lies and deceit..." I growled angrily, looking straight at her face. Iris' smiling face suddenly shone in my mind's eye, and I fought back the sudden wave of sadness that hit me again.

"...I swear, I won't let Kingston go unpunished for what he did to you, Iris." I knelt down and gently took her hands; one metallic and one soft skin, and placed them in her lap to let her rest.

"Goodbye, Iris... even in your death... I will still always love you."

-/-/-/-/-

**Track list:**

"One Trick" (Scene 7, Act 1) Track 08

"Existence" (Scene 7, Act 2) Track 35

"Grief" (Scene 7, Act 3) Track 19

_Again, it's short I know. It's just I have plans, and putting them all into one chapter would kind of make it really long. I don't particularly want to spoil anything, but let me just say two things. One, Heath will get back at Kingston... and two, I said it would be AU, so some other things will happen. Interesting things at that. But you have to stay tuned._

_Anyway, see you all around. I'll try to get the next chapter done ASAP. Hope you enjoyed reading this!_

_+Regii the Lunar Wolf+_


	4. Chapter 4: Scene 8 and 9

_I'd like to apologise, once again, for lateness. I actually did something stupid and went on a hiatus without informing anyone... I'm so sorry. The thing was that I had exams and work, not to mention I was having both emotional and family problems. I lost the will to write for a long time, and then suddenly out of nowhere it all flew back to me today after several days of my girlfriend poking me with a virtual stick and holding a Lucozade-flavoured carrot in front of my face._

_I promise; I will try to update this faster. We're getting near the end. Also, I'm going to do something I've never done before to show you I'm serious and RESPOND to reviews. I know, crazy stuff huh._

_**Arkee:**__ I know, I love Iris too. It's a shame that they really didn't develop her character more in the game or her past. Thanks for the review and I hope you keep watching this story to see what happens._

_**MammonDaughter:**__ Thank YOU for that, actually. I really wanted to portray how Heath felt and I really wanted to make it heart-wrenching. This scene makes me cry when I see it, no matter how many times I play the game. I love it. Thank you so much for continuous reviews and inspiration you gave me from your other story, even if it did go away._

_**TinyPalm:**__ Sorry, I can't spoil anything, but I will let you know that Iris does have an effect on Heath after her death, so do keep reading to see what happens. Also, Heath's little scheme? Come on, we all know Andre's daft and Heath totally owns him, right?_

_**EveryDei:**__ I get your point with the song listings. The reason I write them down at the end is actually a flaw of my own; after I write it, I review the chapter in my head whilst playing the song on my DS to see where that song may match or what part of the game would suit a song. I'll try to do your suggestion this chapter. As for free time, I have a lot of that. The only thing I lack is self-confidence and motivation, as well as having family problems. But I'll try to keep at it. Glad you like it._

_**Lynchly:**__ Thank you. Simple compliments like that don't add anything, but also don't take anything away; it simply lets me know you're a fan. Thank you, and keep tuned._

_**Crash:**__ Yeah, your reaction is pretty much the same as my girlfriend's one. This story isn't dead, I've just had problems at home so don't press the "panic/eject" button just yet, hahaha._

_Thank you to EVERYONE who reviewed... and now, without further delay (we've had enough of that already, heh), Chapter four!_

_**Disclaimer:**__ You know the drill._

-/-/-/-/-/-

**Withered Petals**

-/-/-/-/-/-

The next few days were simply a blur to me, distant memories forgotten in my grief. I found out that the two new witches were Claire, the leader of the witches and the thunder witch, and to my amazement, Cecille, the once-priestess. Apparently, Cecille was the "Twilight Witch" and had gone to aid us to prepare us for fighting God, even at such a young age. Also, Leon had not died as I'd thought; he had gone off to fight Sir Andre to avenge his father, the famous "Lion King". At least knowing that they were okay was a weight off of my shoulders.

Many things had happened to them since I had left them. The Nature, Sky and Torrent witches had all joined their ranks – Mavi, Vivi and Mel respectively – and the Witch of Immolation seemed, although reckless, to be fighting for a similar cause as the Witches. Although I was not totally convinced by this, it seemed at least a bit logical. Still, I was a little sceptical. Also, Alph and Lucia had formed some "bond" between a witch and a "Rym". When I asked what a Rym was, they simply told me that Alph was a dragon, which is what a Rym is. I was completely baffled, but they said they'd explain it all at a later date, so I accepted it as it was, no matter how bizarre it sounded.

Although I thought these things, I didn't really take anything in. Iris had gone and that was all that mattered to me right now. The cute girl I had found in a field of flowers was now somewhere just as peaceful... somewhere she could finally rest with no worry of pain or strife.

_**(Music: "The Tension", game track 09)**_

We had proceeded to the Gates blocking the port to the main capital of San Reise. As I had heard, Andre and the Black Star squad were there defending the gates. Amazingly, we found Leon also there, on the verge of battling Sir Andre. Alph, the others and I all ran to back him up, and for once, I was glad for something to do to take my mind off of Iris' death.

Besides, Andre was one of the few people who I wanted out of the way... to get to Kingston at least.

"Leon!" Alph yelled, attracting everyone's attention as we hurried forward. The red-headed soldier looked generally surprised with our approach, especially when he saw what a large group we had become.

"Alph? Everyone!" He exclaimed, forgetting about Andre for a moment and running back towards us. I caught up and gave him a smile, generally glad that he was safe and that Andre hadn't done something terrible to him.

"You take care of Andre, Leon. We'll take care of the rest," I informed him, drawing my spear and facing down the huge number of soldiers standing before us.

"S-Sir Heath!"

"Gah!" Andre spat on the floor in front of him angrily; "I knew you'd betray us eventually... 'Arc Knight'!"

"I can't be a part of the Church's evil deeds!" I retorted, pointing my spear at him angrily; "I will fight against the church under the flag of justice!"

"You're a fool!" Andre yelled angrily, flexing his armoured muscles for an attempt at intimidation; "Justice lies with God! Our God Zaheal, who will be reincarnated very soon!"

"It's as I thought..." Cecille whispered, her voice full of worry; "God will be reborn soon..."

"You people are mere INSECTS compared to God!" Andre yelled, glaring at us; "And God has no time to waste on puny bugs like you... I'll crush you all!" He drew his sheathed sword from his belt in a vain attempt at brandishing it at us; "With my Regulus Heart!"

"Geez..." Leon gave a loud sigh, rolling his eyes, "Why do you bother fighting with a sword that's stuck in its scabbard?"

"Grrraaaaaah!" Andre yelled angrily, his fists flailing. He looked like a giant armoured gorilla having a tantrum, and despite making him look severely stupid, it did nothing for his temper; "You'll all pay for mocking me!" With this, he gave a loud whistle; "Crow Knights! Black Stars! To me!"

"Yes sir!" A soldier replied, running up with several other soldiers behind him. All of them looked pretty menacing, and Andre grinned wildly.

"The Black Stars are the best of the best in the Crow Knight ranks. All of them have a thirst for blood; they would put the most feral fiend to shame..." He grinned wildly, and a deep, maniacal laughter rose out of his helmet, his eyes wide with rage and bloodlust.

"When they're through with you, there'll be nothing left... but your screams..." He pointed forward and down at the group; "ATTAAAAAAAAACK!"

I remember very little about the battle. I do, however, remember the ending. We had all battled ferociously, side-by-side, like a team. Although the Black Stars were strong, they really weren't very organised and they had no healers, unlike our group. We kept close together and kept our guard up as Leon got close to have a personal battle with Andre. As Kai and I felled the last of the Black Stars, we all heard a shout from near the gate.

"GAAAH! Y-YOU... TRAITORS!"

As we turned, I saw a sight that half pleased me, half shocked me. Andre was pinned with his back to the gate bars, the Regulus Heart by his feet having been knocked aside. Leon was in front of him, fury in his eyes and ice in his voice...

...a foot of his six-foot sword was sticking clean out of Andre's back. The blade had been forced forward so hard that it had cut through the grade A armour like a knife through butter.

"Don't lecture me, you hypocrite!" Leon yelled into Andre's face as the older man wheezed in pain, "You're the one who betrayed my father!"

"Hmph... that's true—" Andre suddenly coughed, blood spilling from his mouth; "I guess... I've lost... b-but... even if I die now... the ritual to revive God has..." he gave a weak cough and closed his eyes.

"...begun already... you cannot... stop... it... uuuuuugh..." With that, Andre finally slumped forward, his body limp and falling to the floor at the foot of the gates. Leon stared down at the body of the man who betrayed his father as we all hurried up behind him.

"Nice job Leon!" Theo called out. Leon looked back with a smile before turning back and yanking his sword out of Andre's chest.

"Father... I have avenged you."

"It's finally over, Leon!" Alph smiled. The two close friends walked up and embraced in a hug, and I couldn't help but feel a smile make its way across my lips. At least that was over... and Leon was back with the group.

"Yeah... I know. Thanks guys."

"That was splendid work, Leon!" I commended, walking up and for the first time, shaking his hand like a fellow soldier and not a teacher and pupil. Leon's face beamed with my approval and I returned the smile as best I could.

"Thank you very much Sir Heath... I'm kind of surprised to see you here with Alph, though."

"I had to split up from you all to investigate the Church myself," I replied, laying a hand on his shoulder; "And now... I'm going to avenge Iris."

"Iris...?" Leon looked a little lost, and I sighed slightly. I would have to explain to him later.

However, seeing Leon here defeating Sir Andre gave me new hope. Hope that I, too, could avenge someone close to me who had fallen from injustice. Just like Leon's father had been betrayed, Iris had been lied to and betrayed by the Church that I had served. And now, like Leon, I was going to pay them back for what they did.

Next... it was Kingston's turn.

-/-/-/-/-

_**(Music: "Failing to redeem the sin", Game Track 34)**_

We took a boat and headed to San Reise, the holy capital. The capital is situated on an island between the two continents and can only be reached by sea, making its defences very tight. However, now with the gate unguarded, we were able to get inside the main walls and to the main church in the centre of the city.

As we got close, however, it was evident that a battle was already going on. Approaching, every single one of us was surprised to see Vanessa, the Witch of Immolation, fighting against the guards at the front of the church. After the witches had a bit of a dispute, the entire group began to fight as one against the guards. I fought as hard as I could, knowing that Kingston had to be inside the Church, as well as the angel, Provost Hugo and the Grand Cardinal himself, the one who would re-awaken God.

If I got rid of them, then Iris' death wouldn't have been in vain.

Once the last guard was taken care of, we rushed the church, Vanessa not even forming a plan and just throwing some form of fiery projectile that she called a "firework" to blast the door clean off its hinges, sending it crashing to the ground. As we made our way further in, I could see a few unmistakable figures further ahead.

"There they are!" Leon yelled angrily, pointing toward them. As the two figures turned, I could make out the Cardinal's sneering face and the young, innocent face of the young Grand Cardinal. All this evil... it was amazing to believe he was barely older than Theo.

"It's Kingston! And Grand Cardinal Johannes!"

"The unstable angel is here as well..." Saki observed, seeing the angel leaning back against the altar a few feet away. As she said this, the angel got up and flew over, landing near us with her annoying high-pitched laugh.

"Like, WHOAH. You cuties all look, like, so steamed!" She giggled, grinning at us; "Like, y'know? What's the problem?"

"Where the hell are the palace guards?" Kingston growled angrily, looking around furiously. As if to make a response to his question, Leon began to whistle loudly and pointedly in a mindless tune as he sheathed the blood-stained Regulus Heart back into its scabbard.

"Vacation." Was his single response.

"Hello everyone," Everyone turned their head to see the Grand Cardinal, Johannes, standing a few feet away. I knew he was the root of all of this evil... but I couldn't bring myself to harm a small child.

"G-Grand Cardinal Johannes?" Alph almost yelled, his jaw almost falling off in the process. The Grand Cardinal nodded, straightening his robes out with a smile.

"I'd extend a warm welcome to you all, but unfortunately, I do not have the time for that." The Grand Cardinal spoke in an innocent, kind voice that betrayed every inch of what he was about to do.

"Cutie little Johannes here's gonna, like, become one with Master God!" Priel cried. Several gasps of shock and outrage ran through the Witches and Fatal Hounds. I, too, was shocked. Reviving him was bad enough, but becoming ONE with him?

"Kingston, deal with them." Johannes nodded, turning and beginning to walk away with Priel, the angel. Kingston nodded standing and blocking our path to them.

"Yes... your Holiness."

"Goodbye, everyone!" Johannes gave us all a cheery wave before disappearing into the next chamber.

"Wait Johannes—" Alph began to run after him, but Kingston blocked his path, holding a large staff out towards him; "Hey!"

"And just where do you think YOU'RE going? I have prepared my latest and GREATEST weapon, in case you interrupted us... come!"

_**(Music: "Red Temple", Game Track 10)**_

With that, the wall gave a loud crash and out came... I wasn't sure. It was some sort of huge, metal object that seemed to move on its own, a monster made of steel, spare parts and what appeared to be a huge sort of electrical generator on the top. As we watched, Kingston took the Water Lapistier from his pocket and put it inside the machine, causing it to start up and aim directly at us.

"MOVE!" Kai yelled, and the entire group split as a blast of energy shot toward us, creating a huge crater where we had all just been standing. Leon spun on his foot, drawing his sword again to face the giant machine, which was now charging a second shot.

"What the hell is that?"

"Some kind of machine...?" Kai muttered, unsheathing his own blade. Kingston gave a hollow chuckle and a dark growl as he patted the giant machine.

"Are you surprised?" Kingston sneered as we were all forced to avoid a second blast from the giant cannon; "This Runic Weapon was made using the information we got when we created Iris!"

"Created..." My fist clenched angrily at the word; "Created...? You little—"

"Take a look," Kingston continued, showing us a glass screen on the front of the machine; "The Water Lapistier. Simply inserting it into the machine's body gives it a huge power boost thanks to the power enhancer installed inside it. Very similar to Iris... however this one will not be a failure. That girl was nothing compared to this marvellous machine, even with the Thunder Lapistier..."

"Shut up..." I felt my fists tighten and the hand holding my spear was so tight that I could feel the metal almost bending under the pressure. Kai had a similar expression on his face as to what I probably had, and the two of us locked eyes briefly, knowing we shared the same feelings.

"That low-rated insignificant tin-can was nothing! Nothing at all compared to this robot, the Runic Engine! The power of this far surpasses Iris—"

"Shut up..." I said aloud now, the words coming through gritted teeth. This man... no... this MONSTER... claimed to have CREATED Iris? To use and discard her like a small toy meant for the trash? A human life toyed and destroyed so callously... it made my blood boil. Some of the other members of the group also heard me, shooting looks at me; a few of them seemed a bit worried, especially Alph and the other children who had never seen me act this way before.

"—and proves that this machine is far superior to that of that stupid Steel Witch, and it will not relent its attacks until it has obliterated all of its enemies! You have no chance of surviving this!" He turned away, laughing as he took a few steps towards the door the monstrous machine was guarding; "Before you can even think about reaching the Grand Cardinal, you have to get through this wonderful piece of killer machine! I wait to see you suffer..."

"What a terrible misuse of science..." Nikolai muttered, readying his crossbow; "I hate to destroy such amazing machinery, but... well, it attacked first. Not to mention it's also threatening my lovely witches! I cannot allow that!"

"We don't have time to play with Kingston's new toy!" Lucia yelled angrily, a ball of light energy appearing in her hands; "Let's get rid of this thing and stop Johannes!"

"Get rid of it? Really?" Kingston sneered; "You may have defeated the Steel Witch, but you will not defeat the Runic Engine! Compared to this, Iris was a speck of dust; a mere insect and something that made no difference to anyone whether she lived or died."

At that point, I lost all control of myself. With a yell, I broke free of the group and charged the machine. Several of the others cried out, and I head Kai call my name out, but I didn't care. Kingston had done it this time and I wasn't going to forgive him. Every bit of anger and hatred I had towards him came free of my heart right then as I charged the robot headlong. The thing was at least seven times my own size, but I had a pretty good idea of how to stop it. Kingston reeled away in shock as the huge robot swung an arm around to punch me away, but I had expected a close-ranged attack like this as well. Yelling angrily, I grabbed onto the swinging arm and hoisted myself up and over, the momentum of my prior jump sending me soaring over the top of the Runic Engine. Kingston's face turned from shock to a mix of pure fear and absolute astonishment as I spun around, driving my foot into the top of Kingston's head. The old man cried out, staggering back and putting his arms over his bald head, the force of the kick having knocked his hat off. The control for the robot was still in his hand, but I wasn't aiming for that.

"This thing will never be better than Iris! How DARE YOU!" I demanded furiously; "Iris meant more to the planet than just some piece of junk! She was my closest friend and you TOOK her mercilessly! How can you call yourself better than any of the monsters you claim to purge?" I raised my spear above my head, ready to drive it down; "You'll pay for ruining MY LIFE AND HERS!"

"A-Arc Knight! You'd kill your own Cardinal? The one you serve?"

"I serve you no longer!" I yelled, my spear ready to drive down into his chest; "This isn't for me! This is for Iris and all of the pain you put her through!" The spear began to arc down towards Kingston, almost in slow motion.

Without warning, something bright white shone brightly throughout the room. I was blinded momentarily, my eyes squinting in the sudden harshness of the light. Unable to see, I yelled out in frustration, but something stopped me mid-yell. It was something so surprising that not even I could see it coming.

_**(Music: "Prayer", Game Track 14)**_

The light faded to reveal a large open clearing; green, green grass surrounded me on all sides as far as the eye could see. My grip loosened a little on my spear that was still above my head as I slowly turned around, surveying the landscape.

'_What... happened?'_ I asked myself, worry seeping into my skin; _'was I teleported here? ...The others! Are they okay?'_

A small twinkle in the grass caught my attention. Moving a little closer, I was surprised to see a single, solitary flower growing in this vast landscape of grass. It was a bizarre flower; large, completely white petals were blossoming from the top of the flower. Just beneath them, a little difficult to see, were smaller petals of a strange shade of purple near the stem, but slowly bloomed into silver at the ends. Its large leaves and enormous flower swayed despite there being no wind, and the centre of the flower was a rich, metallic purple... a purple that reminded me strangely of...

_...Iris._

Reaching out gently, I touched one of the petals on the flower. It seemed to respond to my touch, and the petal wobbled a little. As it did, I suddenly felt something... different about me. Something wasn't quite right, but... not in a bad way. I felt my spirits lift all of a sudden, and suddenly from nowhere, I heard a voice, clear as day. The voice ripped through the sky literally, the clouds parting and a sudden sucking sensation dragging me back to where I was meant to be. The voice rang out in my head as I suddenly found myself away from that strange flower.

"_Heath, behind you!"_

Without even thinking, I whirled around and struck my spear out forward, the tip of my spear impacting into something and driving into it. I heard the sound of smashing glass and a loud whirring noise before I suddenly realised where I was.

I was back in the church's main lobby. There was absolute silence in the room as I slowly took in my surroundings. The Witches and Fatal Hounds were staring at me as if they had never met me before. Kingston was now standing up, having backed up against the wall, a look of utter terror and amazement on his face. The robot was standing in front of me, motionless.

My spear was jammed into the robot, the end of it lodged in there tightly. The force had smashed the glass containing the Water Lapistier, which had bounced away from the machine and now lay still next to Kingston's feet. Slowly, with a loud groan of metal, the metallic beast leaned ominously before toppling forward, crashing onto the marble steps and breaking into pieces. Slowly, I walked forward and gave a heave, my spear coming clean of the robot's back and returning to my hands. The spear itself had changed too; now not an average looking attack weapon, it had become a long, pointed arrowhead shape, bright silver in colour. The handle of the spear was now a vivid metallic purple, and the tassel at the foot of the handle now had white petals strewn down it. Strangely, it resembled the flower that I'd seen only moments ago, and the white and silver-purple petals lining the point at where the handle met the metal blade made sure of that idea.

What was even stranger was that... I felt surprisingly calm. I didn't feel angry or resentful... I just felt... calm. Turning, I levelled my gaze with Kingston, who was staring at me in shock.

"...Not even..." he breathed, his eyes wide; "n-not even my Runic Engine could beat you..."

I scoffed a little, my gaze never leaving him; "Do you think a silly toy like that is any match for a human life? Thoughts, feelings, emotions and will are all stronger than stupid microchips and circuitry."

"B-but..."

"That's why Iris is superior to that machine. Iris was a girl. A human girl... thoughts, emotions, a spirit and a will to live. She could have chosen to give up at any time, she could have chosen to just sit and take orders... but she didn't. She did everything she could to make sure both she – and I – were happy. Iris meant the world to me, and you took her from this planet..." My spear rose again; "...and that is why I won't let you ever get away from me again or hide behind one of your cold-hearted experiments."

"Sir Heath...!" I heard Alph's voice as the rest of the group came up behind me; "That... was incredible!"

"Heath..." Kai's voice trailed to my ear, and I suddenly found myself losing concentration; "Are you alright? You don't look too well."

"And on this note, I'll take the Water Lapistier and make my exit!" Kingston suddenly snatched up the Water Lapistier, dashing for the door; "Escape route!"

"Wha-? HEY!" Alph yelled, and the rest of the group began to hurry after him as he ran to the door; "Get back here!"

I tried to follow, but my legs wouldn't obey me. I simply staggered forward a few feet before collapsing in complete and sudden exhaustion. As I fell, my vision began to leave me but I caught sight of something that made me smile.

I saw a pair of bright blue, metallic eyes that were framed by purple hair and a mechanical crown. It was only then that I realised who had shouted to me, but as soon as I saw the face, I blacked out, only remembering to manage to say one word.

"...Iris..."

-/-/-/-/-/-

_Again, such an apology for the lateness. I've been in a real down spot, but I'm starting to slowly pick up now thanks to my girlfriend. I can't promise when the next chapter will be, but... I can promise two things;_

_One, it will be good. I'm gonna skip a little bit of the story too just to get closer to the part I actually want to get to, but it will be worth it, I promise._

_Two, we're nearing the end. I intended this to only be four chapters or so, but it ended up being more. It looks like this will be six or seven chapters, but we're definitely over the halfway point in my eyes._

_As you can see, I kind of skimmed over a few parts like the battle against the Runic Engine and Leon fighting Andre. That's because I wanted to focus more on plot and focus on battles that are really important... like the one in the next chapter._

_I want to thank you all for sticking with me through this, and I want you all to know that despite not being around, getting reviews for this actually perked me up during my downtime and made me less reluctant to get back to writing. A special thank you to all of you who read this._

_Stay tuned for Withered Petals chapter five._

_**+Regii the Lunar Wolf+**_


	5. Chapter 5: Scene 10 11 and 12 part 1

Merry Christmas! I wanted to do this for all of you as a Christmas present to make up for my late delays recently... or rather, not recently... or... oh you know what? Just screw it. XD

So anyway, this chapter... whoo boy. This is where stuff starts REALLY going off the walls. Not as in 'stop reading now trolololol', but as in 'this is where the AU part starts kicking in completely'. Also, the reason the chapter stops where it does is for two reasons; the first being that I like cliff-hangers, and the second being that the WHOLE chapter would have been something like thirteen thousand words and I'm not piling that all onto one page for you. So, I split it in two. The second half? I'll try to get up before the 29th, but if I don't, then don't expect it until sometime in late January; not deliberately avoiding, it's just I'm on holiday to see relatives. Also, it's my birthday on the 25th January, so I'll probably be all excited for that. (I'll be 20, holy shucks.)

Anyway, I hope you enjoy this chapter. There's a lot of HeathxIris, some AU, Heath being REALLY happy (you'll get what I mean when you read it) and playful AlphxLucia teasing for some humour. I like the serious and all, but I can't write the story without a bit of humour in it or people will stop reading, right?

Anyway, I love you all in a non-sexual way. Thanks for all of your reviews and please enjoy this chapter!

**Disclaimer:** Chapter one.

-/-/-/-/-

**Withered Petals**

-/-/-/-/-

_**(Music: "Prayer", Game Track 14)**_

"_This same place again..."_

_I had opened my eyes to the same field of green grass again. Nothing moved, just like last time, and that large white-and-purple flower was still there. Slowly, I walked over to it and stared down at it, my hand reaching out to touch it lightly. As it did, a soft, white light enveloped me, spreading slowly to the area around me and gently changing the landscape around me. As the light faded, I turned around and realised where I was; somewhere I hadn't been for years, somewhere I had never forgotten._

"_This is... where I found Iris..." My eyes surveyed the field of Krystonan flowers, moving up to the slow-moving stream of crystal-clear water that flowed alongside the field. As my eyes looked at the field, they suddenly widened in shock as I saw someone standing by the river, amidst the field of flowers. Their back was to me, but the purple hair, metallic crown and metallic-purple robe were unmistakable._

"_I-Iris? Iris!"_

_The girl's head turned as I practically threw myself through the field of flowers to get to her. The vivid blue irises and pale face burst into that beautiful smile that I had missed for so long, and her mouth opened to let out that voice; that beautiful voice that I had missed so much._

"_Heath!"_

_As I reached her, the two of us embraced tightly, the young girl's face pressing into my shoulder and bursting into tears, sobbing uncontrollably. I simply held her there, just so happy to be able to hold her to me again, so happy to be able to know she was still okay. Tears began to fall from my own eyes as I held tightly onto her, almost unable to let her go for fear that I may lose her completely. The two of us simply remained like that for several moments, not letting each other go, both of us just feeling so happy that we were finally back together._

"_I-Iris..." I finally managed to whisper, letting her go a little to look down at her; "I... I'm so sorry... this is all my fault. Everything that happened to you, everything the church did... I-I wasn't able to protect you. Please forgive me..."_

"_I never mis-trusted you in the first place, Heath..." Iris smiled up at me, her eyes – despite being mechanical and glaring – showed compassion and genuine sympathy in them; "You've been the only person I've trusted for a long time... ever since I lost Mamma and Papa, you've been all I've had. I knew... even after Kingston took me... I knew you'd still be there for me and try to rescue me. I never once thought you'd let me down, and you never have."_

"_I..." I felt my words catch in my throat as Iris gave me that warm, gentle smile again. She forgave me... after everything I had failed to do, breaking the promise I had made to protect her... and she still stuck with me and backed me up. She still trusted me._

"_Iris... I thought you... I thought... at the Altar..."_

"_So did I..." Iris whispered quietly, looking around; "I don't know what happened... the Lapistier fried my circuits. I couldn't do anything and I was losing all power... but... something was still there. It was like a small back-up generator. I couldn't move, but... I heard everything you said, Heath." Her eyes turned to look up at me; "About... how much you cared about me. I wanted to say the same about you, too... but I couldn't move. Without the Lapistier, I... really had no way of doing anything."_

_My mind thought back to that moment, and something suddenly clicked; "When... when I was holding you and carrying you, your body... it was still warm! Does this mean you're not...?"_

_Iris tilted her head a little, staring up at me; "I really don't know, Heath... I don't know how long that generator's going to last. It could be a few days... it could be a few months, a year... I'm sorry."_

"_No... Don't be..." I smiled gently, pulling her back into my arms for another hug; "I'm just glad we can speak again... you mean the world to me, and when you went, I..." I bit my lip, looking away and trying to stop the tears from flowing down my cheeks again. As I did, I felt her arms gently wrap back around me, returning my embrace._

"_I know. You've been fighting for me this whole time, haven't you? Even when I was only twelve... even now..." She smiled up at me again, and I felt the pain and sadness wash away almost instantly; "Although something does puzzle me. How are we able to communicate? What is this place?"_

"_Your guess is as good as mine, Iris..." The two of us turned to look over the field again as we slowly sat down on the bank of the river. As we did, I suddenly caught a glimpse of myself in the water; I was wearing my old, blue training uniform that I hadn't worn since I was eighteen. The look of it brought back the memory of finding Iris in the field, looking after her and how she was so persuasive towards me getting the promotion. Looking at the reflection now in the water of the two of us sitting side-by-side, it really showed how much we'd changed._

"_Heath..." Iris' voice cut into my thoughts as I looked down at her; "...If I am still alive... if I am still, y'know..." her voice trailed off a little before she looked back at me; "...will you still protect me?"_

"_Of course. You'll always be Iris, that won't ever change."_

_A light blush crossed the girl's cheeks as she gently laid her head against my shoulder; "Thank you, Heath. I promise too... to always help you as much as I can. This new power... even if it was given to me by the Church... if I can use it to help you, to help protect you and the people who you trust..." She put her arms back around me and rested her head on my chest; "Then... that'll be enough for me. Even if I don't gain my body back, if I can help protect you... then that's okay with me."_

"_..." My hand moved up to gently stroke her face, wiping some of the tears away. Her cheek, despite looking cold and metallic, was actually quite soft and warm, just how I remembered it. Before I knew what I was doing, I had leant down and kissed her cheek gently, my arms around her back. Iris gave a small hum and a sigh, resting her head against my chest as her eyes slid shut._

"_Heath... if I ever were to die... or if I am dead already..."_

"_I-Iris!" I stared down at her, my eyes wide-open; "Don't say that! I'm sure you're alive, I'm sure of it!"_

_Iris simply smiled and closed her eyes completely; "If... I were to die... then I want to be buried here, with the Krystonans. They're so beautiful... and they remind me of the two of us... when I die, I want to be buried here..."_

"_Iris..." I whispered, my eyes closing slightly and simply holding her to me. I didn't know why I was in this location or what was going on, but at that point, I didn't care._

_Iris was back... and that was all that mattered._

-/-/-/-/-

_**(Music: "Theme of Rushya", Game Track 27)**_

I slowly felt my eyelids ease open to let my vision meet with wooden planks of a ceiling. Slowly turning, I rolled over on the bed I was laid out on and sat up, rubbing my eyes and looking around. The field of flowers was gone along with Iris and I was back in my normal armour, my surroundings now being replaced by a small cabin. My spear was resting up against the wall and my cloak was hung across the back of a chair. Standing up, I walked over and picked up the cloak, re-attaching it to my armour and taking hold of my flower-y spear. Looking at the white petals on it, I suddenly didn't feel anxious anymore. I didn't feel angry, I didn't feel upset or depressed or burning with revenge.

In fact, I felt... _happy_. Happy because I knew Iris was still alive, even if only in spirit. As a sudden idea, I cleared my throat and spoke up, not sure what to expect.

"...Iris?"

"_Hello Heath, I'm glad you're awake!"_ My heart flooded with delight as I heard her chirpy voice from somewhere below me. Looking down, I saw the Krystonan at my neck glittering slightly. Lifting it up, I smiled at it and the small flower seemed to shimmer in response as a light giggle filled the room; _"Looks like we've found out the way we're communicating."_

"This flower?" I blinked, rather surprised; "...Who knew it had such power..."

"_I don't think it's the flower,"_ Iris' voice responded as I placed it back at my neck; _"I simply think it's some kind of spiritual link. We've both been linked by that flower ever since we met, right?"_

"...A very true statement," I nodded, tapping it lightly; "Iris... I'm so glad you're not... dead."

"_Me too,"_ Iris replied as I slowly headed out of the door; _"I might not be able to move or do a lot, but... at least I'm with you, Heath."_

I felt my face gain a bit of heat at those words and I laughed lightly; "Thank you, Iris. That makes me feel so much better hearing you say that."

I pushed another door open and was surprised when my feet met snow. Looking around, my eyes widened as I saw a large, spiked building in the distance with a very familiar emblem on it; the emblem of the Round Table Council. If that was true, then...

"This... is the Round Table Council's headquarters!"

"_Yes, I've been here..."_ The sadness in Iris' voice made my heart sink considerably; _"They took me here before I was taken to Jeideth. Have you ever been here, Heath?"_

"No..." I looked around, staring at the empty, snow-covered landscape. I had exited a small cabin that had obviously been used by the group to stay, and a large, horse-drawn cart was situated a few feet away, which is how I guessed we travelled; "...Where is everybody?"

"Oh, you're awake!" A voice called out. Turning around, I spotted Mel, the young Torrent Witch, running towards me. Stopping a few feet away, she quickly caught her breath before looking up at me; "The others will be really excited! This is just the bee's knees!"

"Hello Mel," I smiled happily at her, stretching my arms above my head; "Where is everyone?"

"Oh they all went storming in the Headquarters lookin' to take the Water Lapistier and get rid of that Cardinal guy in a double whammy," Mel piped up, smiling happily with her young face beaming up at me; "'We're gonna get rid of Kingston for Sir Heath and help him avenge Iris'! That's what Alph said!"

"He did, huh..." I looked over towards the Round Table Council headquarters and felt my heart sink a bit; "...I see."

"_Something wrong, Heath?"_ Iris' voice asked and I shook my head a little.

"No... but I wished I was the one who took down Kingston. I wanted to be the one to avenge you, Iris..." I shook my head suddenly, realising what I was saying; "Gah, what am I talking about? It's good that Kingston's gone whether it was me or Alph who killed him. Either way he'll stop all of his plans and we'll be rid of him for good."

"_Right. That's the main thing, isn't it?"_

"Yes."

"Um..." I glanced down to see Mel looking up at me; "Mr. Heath, who are you talking to?"

"Huh? You... can't hear her?" I looked bewildered, staring at Mel in confusion; "I'm talking to Iris."

"Um..." Mel looked a bit puzzled, her blue eyes squinting a bit; "Isn't Iris... that machine-girl who was with you? But she's kicked the bucket!"

"No, Iris isn't dead..." I frowned a little, rubbing the side of my head; "She's here with me right now. I'm talking to her."

"...Are you feeling okay, ?" Mel looked at me, a look of worry flashing over her face; "You've been out for the count for about four days now... maybe all that sleep's given you a jittery head?"

"What are you talking about? I feel great!" I gave her a wide smile; "Never better! Now I know Iris is still here, I have reason to know what to do! Once Kingston is dealt with, we're going to defeat God and then I'll find her! Mel, this is great!" Without realising what I was doing, I had taken the young Witch's hands and I had started dancing around with her, laughing loudly; "This is fantastic! I've never felt so great!"

"_Heehee... Heath, I've never seen you so happy..."_ Iris' voice chimed into my ear; _"Is this all because I'm here?"_

"Yes!" I cried, remembering Mel couldn't hear Iris; "Oh Iris, I'm so glad you're back! Even if not in flesh, being here in spirit is good enough for me!" I felt a huge bubble of happiness slowly expanding inside of me, a warm tingly feeling that made me feel as if I was about to burst with delight. Once Zaheal was out of the way, I was ready to go and find Iris.

Mel was staring at me as if she'd just met me for the first time, her eyebrows quirked upward a little and her hands kneading her dress gently. Turning, the two (or rather, three) of us could see a large group of people hurrying towards us. I went for my spear, but let my arm relax when I noticed that it was simply Alph and the others returning. The look on their faces, however, didn't please me and made the magic bubble of happiness inside me deflate a little.

"Sir Heath!" Alph called out, finally noticing that I was awake and running over; "How are you? Are you okay?"

"Okay? Alph, I feel great!" I grinned happily; "So what news have you got? Did you get the Water Lapistier? What about Kingston?"

"Uh..." Alph seemed genuinely surprised at my reaction, "Well... bad news on both counts, I'm afraid. Kingston tried to force the Lapistier into Hugo's body, but he couldn't handle it and, well... went insane."

"Great..." I groaned, shaking my head; "So then what?"

"Well... now we have to follow the cocoon to the Ancient Battlefield..." Claire spoke gently, dusting her dress off; "We must hurry, however; we have very little time."

"Alright then," I nodded, my arms folding; "Let's move. If Kingston's still around, then that gives me all of the reason I need to go after him." At this, I heard Iris' giggling again in my ear and I felt myself smile.

"Um... Sir Heath..." Leon spoke up, tilting his head a little; "Are you okay? You seem... different to normal."

"Huh? Oh, maybe," I shrugged, heading back inside; "I thought we had to get going?" And with that, I walked into the large carriage they were using for transport; "Let's go after Kingston and the cocoon!"

As we all entered the carriage, I spotted several weird looks aimed in my direction, especially from the Fatal Hounds. Sitting down opposite Alph and Lucia, Kai took the reins of the horse as we began to hurry towards the battlefield. I felt the Krystonan brush against my neck, and I gave a broad smile, tapping the tiny flower slightly.

"Still there...?" I murmured, hoping nobody else heard me. This was getting awkward, and how was I going to explain; _'Oh, by the way, Iris' spirit is following me and only I can hear her'_. It only now dawned on me why everyone was giving me weird looks and why Mel had looked worried.

"_Yes, I'm still here. Perhaps you shouldn't talk to me much, I think you're the only one who can hear me and the others may think you're crazy."_

"That's what I thought too..." I sighed, some of my happiness draining a little. Suddenly having an idea, I felt a little smile cross my face; "Although it wouldn't hurt to ask..."

"_Ask? Ask what?"_

Instead of answering, I cleared my throat and looked across the small carriage; "Uh, Lucia? Can I ask you something?"

Lucia, who had been about to fall asleep on Alph's shoulder, perked her head up a little; "Hm...? What is it, Sir Heath?"

"...This is a little awkward of me to ask, but... you know a lot about Rym and spiritual connections, right?" I took a deep breath before asking; "...Is there some kind of magic that lets someone communicate with another person even if they aren't nearby?"

Lucia's head perked up completely now, her blue eyes fixing me a strange look; "...I'm unsure. Perhaps..." She looked down the carriage towards some of her other witches; "Lady Claire?"

"Hmmm..." Claire tilted her head to the side; "The only one I can think of is a Witch and a Rym. Witches can communicate with each other, but not through voice; only through elements and the manipulation of magic in the air. Why do you ask, Mr. Heath?"

"Well..." I faltered. This was a little embarrassing; I can't just outright say; _'because Iris' spirit is talking to me somehow despite the fact I thought she was dead'_.

...Can I?

"Because..." I took a deep breath, steadying myself and choosing my words carefully. Everyone in the carriage seemed to be focused on me now, and I bit my lip a little; "...Because I've been... hearing a voice of a certain person since I woke up. Even in my dream, I spoke to them... and I was wondering if it was possible for two people to communicate with some kind of magic despite the two of them not being physically together... like some form of telepathy or spiritual connection."

There was a long pause, broken only by the occasional neigh from the horses and the clacking of the carriage on the rock-and-snow under-tread. Everyone seemed to be in thought, pondering what I had said. I tilted my head down and to the side, my hand going back up to touch the flower at my neck. Finally, after what seemed like ages, a voice coughed from down the carriage. Looking around, I saw Mavi lean forward to look over at me.

"Hey, Heath. Is this to do with that Iris girl?"

'_Here it comes...'_ I thought, looking at my feet; "...Yes. I'm hearing Iris' voice."

Another pause, before Mavi spoke again; "...This leaves only two suggestions then; either you're losing your mind over that girl—"

"_..."_ Iris made a strange noise in my ear that sounded like a cross between a frustrated grunt and a quiet sob, making my heart tear slightly at the noise.

"—or there's some kind of magic that we don't know about going on here. After all, although you don't like being reminded... Iris _WAS_ a witch. Even if she was man-made." With that, she gave a disgusted look back in the direction of the Round Table Council Headquarters and growled; "Stupid humans, thinking they can use magic for their own-!"

"Mavi, calm down..." Vivi took Mavi's hand gently; "Getting angry over it won't solve anything, 'kay...?"

"...Or there's a third option," Vanessa spoke up suddenly, placing her hat in her lap. Everyone turned to look at Vanessa as her red eyes lingered on me; "For all we know... Alph and Theo may not be the only dragons here. Heath may also be a Rym."

"That can't be right," Mel replied, looking at Vanessa; "If he was, we would've sensed it when we first met him."

"That's true, but we mustn't throw Vanessa's idea away so hastily," Claire spoke up quietly; "Mr. Heath, did you and Iris have a connection? Something that held or brought you both together?"

"...Yeah," I removed the Krystonan flower from my neck, holding it up; "I found Iris in a field of these flowers... they're called Krystonan flowers and they became a symbol of our trust to each other. It was glowing a bit when I woke up, and I have a feeling it's somehow connected to me being able to hear Iris."

"_It could be..."_ I heard Iris' voice speak in my ear, _"I think we're discovering something out here. Maybe asking was the best idea – well done, Heath!"_

"Perhaps..." Claire looked at me quietly; "There's something to do with the actual flower itself. Mr. Heath, when you close your eyes, what do you see?"

"..." I tried it, letting my eyelids fall down over my pupils. After a few seconds of darkness, I began to notice colour in my vision. The colour swirled a little before forming into the shape of a flower; the Krystonan, to be exact. After a few seconds, the shape began to change and I felt myself smile at what I could see now.

"...I can see the Krystonan flower," I spoke calmly, placing it back at my neck; "...and I can see Iris' face... she's smiling. ...That beautiful smile..."

"_You think my smile's beautiful?"_ Iris spoke suddenly, and my eyes shot open as my face went a little scarlet; _"Heath, I never knew! That's so sweet!"_

"I, uh..." I bit my lower lip, looking away; "Um... you weren't supposed to hear that, Iris..."

Alph, Leon, Theo and Cecille all began to laugh along with Iris (although unknowingly), and I even heard a light chuckle coming from Kai's direction. Shaking off the blush, I levelled my eyes with the Witches who were all muttering between each other; "Well?"

"Well," Lucia spoke up suddenly from next to Alph, and I looked over at her; "Heath... that's exactly the same as what happens when I close my eyes, give or take... although sadly I have to see Alph."

_**(Music: "Slapstick", Game Track 23)**_

"Hey! What do you mean 'sadly'?" Alph shot back as Lucia began to giggle; "I'm not THAT bad to look at, am I?" He turned to look around at the group; "Am I?"

"Well you're not as handsome as me," Leon grinned, leaning back in his seat; "Also you need a haircut."

"Hey!"

"My Intel tells me that Alph last had a haircut seven months ago," Saki informed Lucia, who gave Alph a small glare; "He detests getting it cut. His temper gets very unstable, too, when he is told to."

"Big brother throws a tantrum!" Theo piped up, making the others in the carriage laugh and Alph go a shade of pink; "He puts up more of a fuss than I do! Also, he doesn't like going to the doctors either!"

"Sh-shut up!" Alph cried, waving his arms a little in frustration; "S-stop telling everyone this! I do not throw a tantrum at the hairdressers!"

"You did last time I took you," I spoke up, and Iris burst into laughter along with several other members of the group.

"_Well, it's something I'm guessing Lucia will have to know when the two of them get married, isn't it?"_ Iris spoke into my ear, and I promptly began to laugh loudly, holding my stomach trying to keep it in. I had no idea Iris was so cheeky.

"Alph!" Lucia glared at him angrily; "Don't tell me this is all true!"

"I... no, no!" Alph shook his head vigorously along with his hands; "C-cut it out, all of you!"

"Oh come on, Alph, everyone has their downsides and hiccups," Leon grinned, "It's something you're going to have to live with and get used to in other people... Lucia, what do you have wrong with you?"

"Excuse ME," Lucia retorted angrily, "I am perfectly fine! Alph, I'm ashamed of you! Being afraid of the doctors! AND the hairdressers! When this is all over, I'm taking you to get a haircut!"

"B-but..."

"No buts!"

"Hey Luuuuuuciaaaaa..." Vivi piped up in her sing-song voice, making the Dawn Witch turn towards her; "You aren't flawless, Lucia... you never clear up. Master Payan-Payan's always telling you to not leave your broom lying around... that's how he got his back-problem in the first place..."

"Sh-shut up!" Now it was Lucia's turn to go red; "I... I-I misplaced it and I didn't realise! That was all!"

"Not to mention you never did your magic homework," Mavi added, her arms crossing; "I bet you still can't tell me all of the magic elements!"

"I-I can!" Lucia spat back angrily; "Why's everyone picking on _me_ suddenly?"

"Because you started the 'picking on Alph' business," Cecille giggled; "I do remember you once telling me, too, that you thought Alph was very cute, so why you said 'sadly' is beyond me."

"Gah! Shut up shut up _shut uuuuuuup!_" Lucia promptly covered her face as it blossomed with a dark-pink tint. Alph, who had gotten the blush off of his face by now, was now looking at Lucia in interest.

"Lucia? I didn't know all of those things about you. You think I'm... cute?"

"Well," I spoke up, drawing everyone's attention; "As Iris just said to me; Alph, Lucia... you're both going to have to learn this kind of stuff about each other," I gave a weak smile, leaning back in my seat and winking at them both; "you'll need to know about these kinds of things when you get married."

"_SIR HEATH!"_ Both of their faces shone a bright scarlet as the entire carriage, including myself and Iris, burst into fits of laughter. For once, I didn't feel like a teacher or a soldier; I felt like a normal person, joking and talking with friends. This was possibly the first time I'd felt this way since before I'd lost Iris, and I couldn't stop the smile beaming across my face. Hearing Iris' laughter in my ear made it all the more wonderful.

-/-/-/-/-

After another fifteen minutes or so of travelling, we made it to the battlefield. The place was a wasteland; two banks of snow either side of a solid river of ice, two high cliffs on either side forming a valley. Our large group trod carefully, making sure not to fall in the snow or trip on the thick, glossy ice that was our means of crossing the river. The horses could go on snow, but not on ice, which is why we had to leave them at the bank.

"This place..." Claire spoke up as we walked, causing many of us to look at her; "This ancient battlefield... this is where the Witches fought Zaheal, long ago."

"Yeah..." Mel responded, holding onto Theo's hand to help him over the thick ice; "Even now we can still feel the energy that Zaheal released when he was put to sleep here."

"_I can feel it too,"_ Iris spoke gently, and I nodded; _"It's probably from the rune in my body... or spirit... whatever I am now."_

"That angel is going to try to use this energy to cause God's cocoon to hatch in this land..." Claire said slowly, looking back at everyone; "We could be in for a long battle."

"We have to hurry," Lucia's arm was locked with Alph's gently as the two carefully crossed the ice; "If we don't do something soon, God's cocoon is going to hatch!"

"Then we better hurry, right?" Alph nodded at her, making the Dawn Witch give him a genuine smile; "Kingston must also be there."

"Kingston..." I growled, gripping my spear; "Just wait, you old fool..."

"_Heath, please don't get carried away,"_ Iris' voice sounded concerned; _"Please be careful and don't get reckless. I'd hate for anything to happen to you."_

"...Alright."

"Look!" Leon suddenly yelled, making us all jump as he pointed forward, down the valley; "It's the cocoon!"

"Kingston's there too," Kai added, drawing his sword. As fast as we dared on the snow and ice, we hurried forward, weapons drawn. It was only after about two-hundred yards that I realised I was now in the lead, forwarding the charge.

"Kingston!"

_**(Music: "Existence", Game Track 35)**_

Kingston didn't even seem to notice me; his eyes were fixed on the large cocoon in front of him, and he was kneeling, his arms thrown in the air in praise; "God! Oh magnificent God!"

"Like, OH MY GOSH," Came a familiar, annoying voice as Priel, the "unstable angel" – as Saki most kindly referred to her as – flew down to land in front of him; "Like, it's Kingy! What are you doing here? You look so creepy! Teeheehee!" Well, at least she'd gotten one thing right.

Kingston certainly didn't look like himself; his robes were ragged and torn, he looked much thinner than normal and he had sweat pouring down his face, the deep cold solidifying it into ice-crystals that hung from his nose. His eyes were bloodshot and his face was a twisted wreck of livid fury and total despair.

"Get out of my way! I have no need for you; I have come to see God!" Kingston barked, pushing Priel aside. The angel fell onto the snow, giving a loud yelp and rubbing her backside as she leapt to her feet.

"Owowowow! Like, what the HECK, you're SOOOO annoying! I'm, like, totally cheesed off at you now!"

"God!" Kingston completely ignored the angel's voice as he began to pray to the cocoon; "Please! Send harsh punishment to the Witches and Traitors who disobey you... please!" He threw his head back, laughing loudly; "Hahaha! Remove them all from this Earth!"

"_He's lost it..."_ Iris' voice rang in my ear in a half-mix of surprise, anger and a slight hint of pity. I had to agree with her; Kingston had totally lost the plot this time.

"The cry of a man who has lost everything..." I sighed as the rest of the group caught up with me; "Pathetic..."

"Eh? Like..." Priel stood up completely now, giving Kingston the same look that I was giving him; "...what are you trying to do?"

"We've got you now, Kingston!" Alph yelled from behind me, drawing his blade; "There's nowhere left to go!"

"The angel's here too!" Theo cried, drawing his bow; "Brother, we have to get past them to get to the cocoon!"

"I'll smash that damned thing in half!" Leon roared, drawing his huge blade; "Out of our way, has-beens!"

"H-HAS-BEENS? Oh that is IT!" Priel screeched, flying up; "Like, you are SO TOTALLY not on God's party list for his birthday!"

"God, they're here!" Kingston cried, pointing to us; "Please! Punish them all! Please hear the sincere prayers of your most dedicated believer!"

"Dedicated...? You tried to CONTROL God, you nitwit!" Vanessa yelled angrily, drawing her huge scythe from behind her; "Out of our way!"

"Ahahahahaha!" Priel laughed loudly, doing a small loop in the air above us; "Awww, poor widdle Kingy... you just don't get it, do you? It doesn't matter what you say! All of you humans and Witches are just food and munchy-snacks for Master God!"

"...F-food?" Kingston looked a bit shocked, taking a step back; "What do you mean, 'food'?"

"Thaaat's right!" Priel gave a wide grin and another laugh; "Like, you're gonna be eaten and, like... poof! All gone! Yum yum yum for Master God!"

"Wh-what?" Kingston took another step back; "B-but... I..."

"It doesn't matter how much you're gonna pray, it won't make a bit of difference! There's no point, y'know? He's not gonna do anything except, well... eat ya."

"N-no!" Kingston cried; "That... no! Master God!" He turned in vain back to the cocoon; "Master God, please! Destroy these Witches and the traitors!"

"Like, why don't you just do it yourself...?" Priel yawned, flying down and finally landing; "If you want them gone so badly, then, like... D.I.Y, y'know?"

"I don't have the power..." Kingston fumed angrily, his fists clenching; "That's why I'm here to ask Master God... he has the power to destroy them!"

"Oh come on Kingy!" Priel laughed loudly, suddenly running past Kingston and thumping him, something shiny falling into her hand; "You've got something fun to play with!"

"What is... no, that's-!"

"It's kinda gross..." Priel muttered, staring at the glowing blue rock in her hand; "It still has some of that warmth from that cutie Hugo..."

"N-no!" Kingston took several steps back; "Th-that's...!"

"Like, check it out, everyone!" Priel cried, holding up the blue rock for us all to see. Several gasps went around the group, and I heard several worried whispers from around me; "Da-na-ta-ta-ta-ta-ta-taaaa! It's the Water Lapistier!"

"Hey!" Lucia yelled angrily, advancing forward slightly; "That rightfully belongs to the Witches! Give that back!"

Priel completely ignored Lucia and began to head towards Kingston, the Water Lapistier held in front of her. Kingston backed up, a look of terror now on his face as Priel waved the Water Lapistier in his direction, looking like she was waving a live beast that was about to tear his heart out; "No! Nooooo!"

"Like, you are so WEIRD, Kingy!" Priel squealed, suddenly slamming Kingston's back into the cocoon's side, pinning him; "Didn't you want POWER? Well, here ya go! Yoooou're WELCOME! AHAHAHAHAHA!"

With that loud, maniacal laugh... Priel plunged the Water Lapistier straight into Kingston's chest.

Instantly, Kingston began to convulse, his agonizing screams bouncing off of the walls of the valley to magnify them ten-fold. The entire group was frozen to the spot as Kingston collapsed to his knees, clutching the now open wound in his chest as his body began to slowly gain a bright, blue aura. As we watched in absolute horror, Kingston began to change before our very eyes; first his face looked as if it was starting to melt, the skin turning a shade of blue and sagging on his face as huge, sharp fangs suddenly erupted from his jaws. His eyes were now wide and bloodshot as his bony fingers gripped the staff tightly, suddenly pointing it at us. All of us leapt back and skidded on the ice as huge, rock-solid ice-chunks suddenly rained from the sky, smashing into the icy lake in front of us and shattering the surface of the ice, embedding them at least a foot-deep into the layer on the water.

"What?" I heard Leon yell from a few feet away as everyone got to their feet; "What in the name of magic just happened?"

"The angel just pushed the Water Lapistier into Kingston's chest!" Lucia yelled back as we all began to stand; "This is bad!"

"Is she trying to make him like Hugo?" Alph cried, staring as Kingston's now grotesque face peered through the gaps in the ice chunks; "Is she INSANE?"

"Yes, she is! I think we established that a long time ago, kid!" Vanessa yelled as she suddenly grabbed Mel and Theo, dragging them back as more ice-blocks thundered down, threatening to crush us; "Use your brain, kid!"

"This... oh no, this is terrible!" Theo cried as Vanessa helped the young boy to his feet; "Big brother, what do we do?"

"Oooooh, that is so GROSS! ...But so COOL!" I heard Priel yell; "What, that ain't enough Kingy? Want some more? PRIEL POWER, WOO-HOO!" A bright pink flash shone from behind the ice-crystals, and Kingston let out an unearthly cry that sounded like a beast in agony. Without any warning, he swung his staff around, and a whip made of some sort of ice-chain lashed around the huge ice-blocks, crumbling them in seconds.

"KYUUURRAAAAAAGH!"

"Wh-what is this?" Lucia cried, staggering back and almost falling over before being caught by Alph; "The... the power of the Lapistier is growing?"

"KYUUURRAAAAAAGH!" Kingston screamed again, his eyes livid and the blue glow around him almost completely solid; "KILL! KIIIIIIILL! NOW MY PLAN... TO SURPASS GOD'S POWER... GREEEEGH... RAAAAAAGH...!" The new 'deformed' Kingston didn't even manage to finish his sentence; slowly, he began to advance towards us, his growling getting louder and louder.

"It's aaaaall gone!" Priel sang in a sing-song voice; "Poof! Voila! Ahahahahaha!"

"THE POWER... FOR GOD... THIS PLANET... WILL BE SACRIFICED... FOR HIM...!"

"_This is bad, Heath!"_ Iris cried; _"I can sense his power level and its way past any of the Witches in your group at the moment!"_

"..." I bit my lower lip. Iris was right, and I didn't need a power meter or whatever it was to tell me that. Kingston had lost control. On top of that, to my added horror, I could spot a large army of monsters heading towards us from down the sides of the valley. We were trapped; there wasn't any way to go.

But that was okay with me. I didn't plan on running.

"Kingston..." Alph stared at the monster, mouth agape; "...What happened to you...?"

"No... He's not Kingston anymore..." Cecille replied, a hint of pity in her voice; "Now he is just a puppet being controlled! Controlled by Zaheal!"

"Ahahahahaha! Show 'em what you've got, Kingy!" Priel cried as she flew back to sit on top of the cocoon; "Let your power and the monsters kill them, just like you wanted to! You've got the power to do it so hop to it!"

Looking back at Kingston, I found myself looking into his eyes. They weren't his own anymore, but somewhere in there, I could still sense the cynical, monstrous man who took Iris from me all of those years ago. I could feel the rage and anger fill me again as he swung his staff around, screaming and pointing it towards us. As he did, I leapt forward towards him, driving the point of my spear straight at his chest. Hearing several loud crashes behind me, I wheeled around to see huge stalagmites bursting forth from the ice, blocking the way back to the rest of the group. Growling angrily, I stood to my feet and glared Kingston down.

_**(Music: "Red Temple", Game Track 10)**_

"Heath!" I heard Kai call from the other side of the ice-wall; "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine!" I called back, skidding on the ice as I avoided a blast of cold wind sent at me by Kingston; "But you guys take care of the monsters coming down the valley first! I'll take care of Kingston!"

"What? Sir Heath, that's suicide!" Alph cried, his voice echoing around the walls of the canyon; "Try to hold him off and we'll get through somehow!"

"Alph, go and get rid of the monsters!" I ordered angrily, lunging at Kingston again. The old man had suddenly vanished, skidding across the ice away from me and blasting another jet of freezing air at me. I throw myself to the ice and rolled, the cold jet of air leaving icicles on my cloak and armour; "I'll take care of Kingston whilst you do that!"

"But—"

"Just GO!" I yelled, spinning around and driving my spear back towards Kingston; "Drang!"

The lightning bolt shot from the end of my spear and missed Kingston by mere inches, scorching the ends of his robes. The Ex-Cardinal roared, his blue glow shining suddenly brighter as he unleashed a huge wave of magical energy towards me. I had barely enough time to hurl myself to the side as a colossal ice-block dropped from seemingly nowhere, smashing into the ice and sending fragments of it flying in all directions. I lifted my cloak to shield myself from the flying ice-crystals, trying to keep my focus on what was going on. The power the Water Lapistier had given Kingston was incredible, even I had to admit that. He seemed completely confident in using all of this powerful magic, and his staff suddenly gained the large, ice-like chain status again as he swung it towards me. I was forced to guard against it with my spear to stop it from hitting me, but the impact caused my feet to slide out from under me on the ice and I fell onto my back, rolling away and getting unsteadily back to my feet.

"_Heath, this is too risky!"_ Iris cried and I felt the Krystonan at my neck vibrating slightly; _"Please stop! Get out of here and find the others!"_

"No way..." I hissed, propping myself up using my lance; "I said I'd get rid of Kingston... to avenge you... and that's EXACTLY what I'm going to do!"

"_Heath, this is insane! Please stop!"_ Iris begged and I could hear the pain in her voice; _"I... I don't want you to die! Kingston's too powerful!"_

"..." I bit my lip in frustration. Although I hated to admit it, Iris was right; Kingston WAS too powerful. I couldn't fight him up-front, so perhaps...

I took my chances and ran forward. Kingston swung his staff, the ice-chain re-appearing and moving so fast that I could physically hear the air slice in half. I leapt as hard as I could and powered myself into the air, both feet leaving the ice and clearing the radius of the chain. My spear swung down, driving straight towards Kingston's head; the spear tip went clean through his hat and struck his skull...

...and stopped dead.

"Wh-what the...?" My eyes widened as my feet slammed back into solid ice, causing me to lose my footing. As that happened, Kingston gave a loud, wild snarl as he swung around, his staff colliding with my face. The force of the blow was like being sucker-punched by ten goblins at once; my feet physically left the ground as I soared backwards, my back slamming into the ice as I continued to slide along the ice before finally coming to rest against a small bank of snow. A few feet away, I heard the metallic clatter of my spear hitting the ice and rolling.

I was now defenceless. Painfully, I stood up and stared Kingston down, trying to catch my breath. I could see the pure, unbridled fury in his eyes as he sneered across at me. This idiot was so in love with power that he had sacrificed countless lives – including his own and Provost Hugo's – to gain it. He had murdered five-hundred innocent soldiers, ruined countless lives and, worst of all, had forced an innocent girl to become a slave to his experiments.

"...Kingston!" I yelled angrily, finally making it to my spear and picking it up; "I... I won't let you get away with any more! Your lust for power has driven you insane! Look at you!"

Kingston did little but let out a loud snarl, so I continued angrily; "You manipulated everybody! The Church, the people of this planet, myself, the Fatal Hounds, hundreds of innocent soldiers... and you're preparing to throw countless lives away simply for your own gain of power? Do you have no SHAME?"

"GRAAAAAAH..." Was his only response as he fired a jet of ice-cold water at me. I ducked to the side and continued to yell angrily, finally letting out everything I had bottled up against him.

"You tore lives apart! You ruined families, homes, businesses! You destroyed everything and took things that were dear from those who didn't even deserve it! All of this... for what, Kingston? Tell me! WHAT WAS IT FOR?" I began to breathe heavily, my hands shaking as I grasped my spear tightly; "You take things from those who don't deserve to lose them! Homes, husbands, sons, businesses, lives! Even... even Iris!"

"_H-Heath..."_ Iris' voice said quietly in my ear, but for once, I ignored her and continued on angrily.

"You don't know what it's like! You took Iris from me; Iris, the girl who I found abandoned! The girl who I raised to know right from wrong! The girl who stood strong in the heavy winds of her life that tried to uproot her and blow her away! She was INNOCENT and you... you DESTROYED HER! You tore her from her life that she was only just getting used to and... You MONSTER!" I could feel the tears streaming down my face now, falling to my chin and crystallizing into small ice-droplets as they fell; "You LIED to me, too! You told me that you were LOOKING for her and yet all that time... all that time, YOU LIED TO ME!"

Everything was coming free now, and for once, I didn't want to stop it. I had kept this all bottled up for too long, and whether I was going to die now or not, I finally had the chance I had wanted to let it all go.

"This is why I'm fighting you! This is why I have to be the one to take you down!" I yelled angrily, holding my spear up; "For what you've done! Not just to Iris and I, but to the world too!" I pointed my spear straight at him, my hands still quaking.

"I swear! Not in the name of God or justice, but in the name of Iris – the girl I loved – that I will punish you! Prepare yourself, Kingston!"

"_H-Heath...!"_ Iris whispered, her voice sounding gentle and quiet; _"You... you love me...?"_

"KRAAAAAAGH!" Kingston suddenly charged forward, his staff swinging at me. I brought my spear up and this time, managed to successfully deflect the attack before charging in and driving my spear forward. The blow hit his stomach, but it was like trying to drive a stick through a brick wall – somehow, Kingston's body had become as hard as ice. He swung his staff back around and the ice-chain wrapped itself around my waist tightly. I gave a loud yell as I was thrown through the air, soaring quite a distance before crashing into the stalagmites that had barred my exit earlier, slumping down to the ground. I was so weak I could barely move, my arms shook and my legs quaked.

But I knew that I had to keep fighting. For everyone's sake... and for Iris.

"_HEATH!"_ Iris' sounded like she was beside herself now; _"Y-you have to stop! H-he's going to k-kill you! Get up a-and get out of there! HEATH!"_

"N-no... I... I-I can't..." I grabbed hold of my spear, struggling to get back to my feet; "I... I'm not done yet! Not... n-not until I..." I felt my knees suddenly buckle beneath me and my body crumpled to the floor as I gasped for breath.

"I... I can't... lose... Th-this cannot be... I-Iris...!"

"FOOLISH HUMAN!" Kingston roared, laughing loudly in a snarling way, his teeth glinting as his staff rose for a final time; "I WILL ENJOY... SACRIFICING YOU... FOR GOD!"

'_This is it...'_ I thought; _'I'm going to die here, all because I was reckless. I'm so stupid... Iris, I'm so sorry...'_ As I closed my eyes, I could see the Krystonan flower again in my field of vision, the petals parting and the flower blossoming to become Iris' beautiful, smiling face.

If I was about to die... then that was what I wanted to see before the end.

-/-/-/-/-

**Woot, cliff-hanger. As I said at the start of the chapter, this was split into two, so the REAL AU part will come in the second half of this chapter.**

**Stay tuned, and again; a VERY merry Christmas and a happy new year to all of you!**

**Yours,**

**+Regii+**


	6. Chapter 6: Scene 12 part 2 and 13

_Apologies for the long delay. Although I promised I'd have this up during January, I didn't expect medical conditions to overtake me. I was in hospital for a short while after my holiday and then I've been so busy and frustrated trying to sort things out with them for the past two weeks that I haven't been able to concentrate... however, here's Chapter 5 part 2._

_Just so you know, if you take a look at this chapter, you'll now realise why I wanted to leave you on a cliff-hanger. Also, I use the first non-Luminous Arc song in this chapter and possibly one of only two I plan to use. If you want to check out what it sounds like, type it into YouTube._

_Anyway, I hope you enjoy the first of TWO EPIC BATTLE SCENES. (I'm not the greatest at doing battle scenarios, so I hope this turns out okay.)_

_**Disclaimer:**__ Yo momm—I mean chapter one._

-/-/-/-/-

**Withered Petals**

-/-/-/-/-

_**(Music: "Ancient Myth", Game Track 31)**_

"_Heath?"_

_My eyes slowly opened. Iris was sitting in front of me, her hands in her lap and her gaze fixed down on me. Looking around, I saw the surroundings of the canyon gone. Instead, I was back in the field of Krystonans. Slowly, I pushed myself upright, looking around me slowly._

"_Where... what happened?" I turned to look at Iris, who was still watching me with a soft look; "...Am I...?"_

"_No," Iris replied gently, shaking her head; "You were on the verge of death, Heath... Kingston was about to finish you off. I put all of my energy to try and bring up my barrier to protect you, and..." she gestured to the scenery quietly; "We ended up back here."_

"_But... Kingston... the others! The cocoon! The angel! We have to—"_

"_Heath," Iris cut me off suddenly, standing up. As I turned to her, I was genuinely surprised to see a very serious look across her face; "Heath, you really scared me. Rushing in like that against Kingston... you seriously underestimated him. He was powered up by the Water Lapistier AND the angel, and still you ran in there and attacked him! Heath, you... you...!" Her lower lip began to tremble and, before I knew it, she had thrown her arms around me; "Please! Please, d-don't scare me like that again!"_

"_..." I let out a long sigh, holding iris to me and gently reaching up, stroking my fingers through her hair as she sobbed against my shoulder; "...I'm sorry, Iris. I... I was just so angry... I lost control of myself. I wasn't thinking about anything else... little enough about your feelings..."_

"_I-I thought... you told me that... knights had to stay calm and collected in the f-face of a c-crisis..." Iris sniffed, looking up at me and wiping the tears from her eyes; "A-and then you go off a-and act like... like..." her words trailed off and she looked away from me, staring at the grass._

"_...An idiot?" I guessed vaguely, standing up. Seeing her nod, I gave a weak sigh and rested my hands behind her, my arms still around her; "Yeah... I did act a bit rash. I didn't mean to do that... but all of that came spilling out in one big moment... I couldn't stop it."_

"_..." Iris said nothing for a moment, simply looking at the flowers around us. I looked to the side to join her in watching the flowers, and the two of us remained silent for a long time. Nothing at this moment could ruin our moods, just the two of us, side-by-side in this field of flowers. I felt like... I could remain here forever._

"_Heath..." Iris spoke up quietly a few minutes later. Turning to her, I noticed that she was now looking at the ground and had started fiddling with her robe a little; "When you were saying... all of those things... did you really mean it? About... how you fought for me, and you were mad because of everything Kingston had done?"_

"_Yes," I said, looking down at her; "I meant every word I said back there, Iris."_

"_Including..." Iris slowly turned to look up at me, an unreadable expression on her face; "...the part about... you loving me?"_

"_..." I paused for a moment. Thinking back, had I really meant that? Did I love Iris? I thought of all the times I had wished for her to be back, all of the times I'd worried over her. I also thought of before that; raising her from a child to a teenager, to a healthy young woman. I remembered all of the time we spent together, all of the beautiful moments that we shared and how much Iris truly meant to me. Finally, after making my decision, I opened my mouth._

"_...Yes, I... I do love you, Iris. I meant every word, as I said."_

_Iris stared at me for a long moment, her face expressionless. I felt for one, sickening second that she might cry – or worse, get angry – and I held my breath. Finally, Iris' face broke into a gentle smile as her arms reached up to wrap around me. Unsure of what this meant I simply slipped my arms around her in response as she rested her head on my chest._

"_Heath, I want to help protect you..." Iris said suddenly, causing me to look down at her; "I want to use this new power to help protect you, Heath... to work with you to protect this planet. Even if I don't have a chance of getting my body back, as long as I know I can be with you and help you... that's enough for me."_

"_So you said," I responded quietly; "Then let me use my power to protect you too, iris. Let's use our powers to protect the world... and what we cherish most; each other."_

"_Yes..." iris nodded before looking up at me; "Heath... close your eyes."_

"_Alright." I did as Iris told me to, the image of the Krystonan appearing in my field of vision. A few seconds later, it blossomed into Iris' smiling face, and I gave a warm smile at seeing her happiness._

"_I... can see you... with my eyes closed," Iris whispered softly, and to my surprise, I actually saw her lips move in my mind's eye; "What do you see, Heath...?"_

"_I can see you too, Iris," I responded quietly, my hand gently squeezing hers. The face in my mind's eye gained a bit of a pink tint as she gave a light giggle in response, squeezing my hand back._

"_Let's... let's work together, Heath."_

"Of course."

"_Our planet..." Iris spoke calmly, her other hand grasping my other hand, holding my spear in it; "Give us power. I... I will fight for the planet! Lapistier, please hear me!"_

"_I..." I faltered for a moment before words began to flood my head and I began to speak without even thinking; "I will fight to protect Iris, along with the planet. I will fight for the protection of the one I love, as innocent and beautiful as a flower. We will stand strong, like a flower in a hurricane, and defend this planet for as long as we live!"_

_As if on cue, bright light began to filter in from under my closed eyelids. Squinting, I had just enough time to see Iris' face move closer to mine before I felt her crown bump against my face..._

_...as she kissed me._

-/-/-/-/-

"There! That's the last of them!"

Alph shook the droplets of blood off of his sword as he turned to face the others; "We've cleaned 'em all out! Anyone hurt?"

"No, we're all okay," Mavi dusted herself off, turning around to face the others; "Are you all okay? Witches? Lady Claire?"

"I... I think so..." Claire took off her hat to brush her hair a little nervously before replacing it; "However I am worried about . Do you think he can manage on his own?"

"Heath's a capable man," Kai responded, folding his arms after sheathing his sword; "He should be able to take care of himself."

"But... Kingston's a lot tougher now than he was before..." Theo replied, looking up at Kai; "Mr. Kai, are you sure he'll be okay...?"

"...We best go back and check on him," Leon turned and began to walk back the way they'd come; "C'mon everyone! Quickly!"

"Wha—hey! Who put YOU in charge?" Alph yelled, running after Leon. As the group reached the ridge, they heard a loud scream and the sound of smashing ice before maniacal laughter. The group all looked at each other and, as one, their minds hit the same conclusion.

"Sir Heath!" The group ran up the hill and over the edge of the ridge to look down back at the river. What they saw was Kingston grinning wildly and Priel doing loop-the-loops in the air above him. A few feet away from Kingston, a solid chunk of ice at least seven feet high and two feet wide was situated, half-buried in the surface of the frozen river and inside the ice, standing frozen stiff, was...

"SIR HEATH!" Alph almost screamed, breaking into a run and dashing almost vertically down the cliff-face, running towards Kingston and Priel. As he did, however, Kingston spun around and fired several large chunks of ice at him, causing Alph to put up his Rym-Wall to block them. As the others came down the cliff to join him, Alph launched himself once again across the ice, his sword pointed at Kingston's chest. The blade hit Kingston and bounced off of him, causing Alph to stumble back and narrowly avoid receiving an ice-whip to the face. The momentum now lost, Alph hit the ice and rolled back, getting back to his feet and grabbing his gun, firing several rounds at Kingston. The small shells bounced off of the cardinal's body, and Alph took several steps back in alarm as another attack began to charge in the ex-cardinal's staff.

"How... what's with him? It's like his body's made of METAL!"

"No..." Lucia's eyes widened; "Not metal... ice! His body's made of solid ice!"

"Well then, let ME melt him down to size!" Vanessa swung her scythe around before a column of flame dropped from the sky, slamming right on top of Kingston. The ex-cardinal roared in agony, his face looking even more grotesque than normal as he shot a blast of high-pressured water at Vanessa who barely had enough time to duck out of the way.

"Damn..." Leon grabbed his sword; "Let's go, everyone! We gotta—"

"Leon, look out!" Cecille had enough time to grab his arm and drag him back as an ice block dropped from the sky and crashed into the ice right where he had been standing; "We can't even get near him! The Water Lapistier has powered him up too much!"

"This is terrible... a human with double... no... Almost triple the power of a normal Lapistier inside their body..." Claire bit her lip as tears formed in the corners of her eyes; "H-how could we have let things get this bad...?"

"Duck!" Yelled Saki suddenly, and the entire group threw themselves down as a huge wave of ice and snow shot over their heads. It was now they realised Kingston's true motives and power.

If that had hit them, it would have chopped them in half.

"Woohoo! Like, go GET 'EM, Kingy!" Priel squealed from in the air. In response, Kingston's staff began to glow and he held it into the air, power drawing from the surroundings around him. In one fell swoop, he brought the staff crashing onto the ice, sending chunks of ice and frigid water straight towards the group. Alph and the others all cried out as they tried to shield themselves or their friends from the flurry of snow, ice, sleet and water that hit them.

As they got to their feet, a strange glow began to emanate from the centre of the group. Surprised, Claire reached into her cloak from where the glow was coming from and dragged out the shining yellow rock, holding it up; "The... the Thunder Lapistier?" But why is that reacting now?"

"Is it because of the water Lapistier inside of Kingston?" Mavi asked, looking surprised. As she said this however, the bright yellow rock suddenly soared clean out of her hand and across the river away from her. Shocked, Claire reached out to grab it, but by this time it was already far out of her reach. The Lapistier flew right past a very surprised Kingston, who had started charging another attack, right past Priel who had soared down to try to catch it and had involuntarily face-planted into the ice and finally, it connected with the large chunk of ice behind them.

The entire area suddenly erupted in a bright, white light that surrounded the entire area. The entirety of the group covered their eyes as the light only grew brighter, making it impossible to see. Slowly, the light faded away back to nothing, the area now completely silent and still. Even Priel and Kingston were unsure of what was happening. After a few seconds of bewildered silence, Alph finally spoke up, his voice unsure.

"...Where's the Thunder Lapistier? What was THAT all about?"

"...KREEEAAAAAAAAAAAGH!" Kingston now seemed more livid than ever and pointed his staff at them, drawing more power back into it, ready to deal a devastating blow.

Nobody saw the cracks in the large chunk of ice that were slowly lengthening.

-/-/-/-/-

I could feel... strength. Strength was flowing into me from somewhere and I had no idea from where or how. I felt... different; almost like I was completely invincible. I could feel something pressing in all around me, and I opened my eyes a fraction to see solid ice around me. Despite this, however, I didn't feel weak at all... or even COLD for that matter. In fact, I felt... fine.

Something warm was resting in my hand, and I squeezed it lightly. It felt so warm, so... normal to me somehow. I could feel the warmth spreading throughout my body, seeping into every pore of my skin and, as the ice began to melt, I could see more clearly out of it. I saw Kingston standing near the Fatal Hounds and the Witches, holding his staff above him and ready to use some kind of attack. My heart instantly began to race, and I felt my right hand squeeze on my spear, trying to move. I had to help them... I had to stop Kingston...

"I..." I found myself whispering hoarsely to nobody in particular; "I have... to help... them..."

"_Then let me help,"_ I heard Iris' voice in my ear, a gentle whisper and seeming much closer than before. Without warning, I felt the power in my body slowly increase, the ice hissing around me as an invisible force was pushing it back. I heard the ice begin to crack, I felt power enter my right hand and tingle as the energy hit my spear and I felt it begin to move slightly of its own accord. Slowly following suit with my hand, I leaned my hand back down the handle of the spear as far as it would go before thrusting it forward.

"**Power Thrust!"**

With a sudden, ear-splitting shattering noise, the ice-prison broke, sending shards everywhere. I felt the ice prison fall away as I stepped forward back onto the solid ice, my spear gripped tightly in my hand, my eyes focused on Kingston, who in turn had buckled from the chunks of ice hitting him in the back.

"I will not allow you to harm my students, Kingston!"

Kingston wheeled around, his eyes widening in genuine surprise; "YOU! KEAAAGH... BUT... KEEAGH... HOW?"

"SIR HEATH?" Alph yelled in surprise as I glanced over at him; "A-are you okay?"

I didn't respond; instead, I pointed my spear towards Kingston, the weapon in my hand now glowing as the power from the warm thing in my hand seeped throughout my body once again.

"Iris... please lend me your strength."

"_I will,"_ I heard her voice respond in my ear, clear as day; _"Lets combine our power!"_

I nodded, drawing my spear up above my head as I felt the warm glow surround my body; looking down, I realised that the item in my hand was actually the Thunder Lapistier, which seemed to have attached itself to my palm almost.

"I am the Cleansing flame!" I called, feeling the glow flourish all around me; "She is the Steel Witch! With this spear and our combined power, we shall punish each and every opponent who vows to harm this planet and vanquish them in the name of justice!" I felt the light engulf me completely, and my strength almost overpowered me.

"I AM HEATH... THE KRYSTONAN KNIGHT!"

_**(Music: "The Witch Army" – Arc Rise Fantasia)**_

As the light cleared, I looked at my reflection on the glossy surface of the ice. My entire attire had changed completely; I was no longer wearing the armour of the Arc Knight. My armour was now a metallic purple colour, a large broad chest plate covering most of my upper body and two, large purple pauldrons on either shoulder. The armour down most of my body had become the same colour and looked almost... more futuristic, and I noticed that what appeared to be some kind of gem set in the centre of the breastplate looked a lot like the Thunder Lapistier. My thighs and legs also seemed to have extra armour, but only at the sides and the whole thing felt almost... lighter in a sense. On my arms I had two large braces that were white in colour and linked to my gloves and my boots and leg-armour below my knees were also white. The red cloak that Iris had made for me was now overlapped by a white one as well, both fluttering behind me in the cold air. Around my neck, finally, I felt a white scarf that seemed to drape into several ends, all of them flapping in the breeze... looking a little bit like flower petals dancing in the wind, just like a Krystonan flower. With one final push of strength, I grabbed my spear above my head with both hands and pulled either side. I felt a burst of energy, a rush of power and the sound of a tearing noise that sounded like a thunderclap...

...As the single spear became two.

"PREPARE YOURSELF!"

I gave him no time to react; I drove both spears forward, both of them letting off large bolts of lightning that soared towards him. Kingston quickly brought up several large icicles to shield himself, and the lightning slammed into them. However, rather than bouncing off, the lightning encased the ice-crystals and caused them to crack considerably, which I then broke down by charging into them.

"Whaaaat?" I heard Priel scream angrily from above me; "That is SO NOT FAIR! The knight gets a power-up too? Priel is, like, SUPER-MAD NOW!" I heard the sound of a string being pulled back on a bow, but before I heard it release, I heard the unmistakable sound of a sharp twang and a whiz of an arrow that came from the group's direction. With a squeal, Priel ducked the whizzing arrow that shot millimetres from her face before having to zoom away from a large number of other projectiles and array of magical spells; "Oh, like, COME ON!"

"I won't let you hurt Sir Heath! **Rym Shot!**" I heard Alph yell, and I had just enough time to see his blade glow as he pointed it at Priel. A sudden blast of energy shot from his sword, flying through the air and slamming into Priel. The little angel-girl squealed, tumbling down several feet before righting herself; "Take that!"

"Good shot, brother!" Theo cried, readying his bow for another shot; "Let's help Sir Heath!"

"Yeah!"

"_Looks like we're not alone,"_ Iris commented and I smiled; _"Although with you, you're never alone, Heath. You'll always have Kai... the children... and me."_

"I know that," I responded, grabbing my two spears again as I turned back to Kingston, who was now dealing with blocking a Fire-and-Thunder combined attack from Vanessa and Claire; "I know I'll never be alone. That's why I'll always protect everyone – so they don't have to be alone, just like I'm not... and I don't ever want you to be again."

"_Then let's do this!"_ I felt another surge of power well into me, and I let loose several more Drang spells towards Kingston. The attacks struck his back, causing him to howl in pain and wheel around on the spot, lashing out with his ice-whip. I powered myself into the air, feeling myself soar up, spin in the air and then plummet back down, my arms almost feeling like they were becoming one with my spears.

"**ARM BLADE!"**

The spears slammed into the ice, causing the thick surface to crack and the shockwave causing Kingston to stumble. As he did, Leon came diving in from his right, his sword swinging straight towards the Cardinal's head; "HERE'S A LEON SPECIAL!"

"KEEEAAAAAGH!" Kingston reeled back from the blow, the blade, despite being severely weakened by the ice, had actually cut into the ex-Cardinal's skin. A small line of black blood seeped out and stained his robes. With a howl of fury, Kingston spun around and lashed out the ice-whip at Leon, who blocked the attack by covering his blade in fire and slashing against it.

"Gotta do better than that, old man!" He yelled as he backed up; "Sir Heath, sock him one while I got him covered!"

I nodded and drove my spears forward, aiming for the arm holding the staff; **"PILEBUNKER!"**

The attack tore into his arm, the electricity on the ends of the spears jolting him violently. Kingston cried out and staggered away as his staff came back around to lash at my face. I ducked and drove my foot forward, suddenly feeling it tingle with electrical energy. I felt it collide with something solid and pushed myself away. As I did, I heard a howl of pain behind me, and I turned to see Kingston doubled over in pain, his hands between his legs. Behind him, Leon looked in a mix of wanting to hold back laughter and congratulating me on something.

"_Heath, you..."_ Iris spoke quietly, her own voice filling with giggles; _"D-did you really have to kick him there?"_

"It wasn't intentional!" I protested before lowering my voice; "...Well, maybe a little."

"_Behind you!"_ Iris yelled suddenly, and I had just enough time to throw myself to the side and roll along the ice as a large arrow slammed into the ice where I had just been standing. Looking up, I saw Priel readying another arrow and aiming it at me. I lifted my spears ready to block when the angel was struck by a combination of hail and wind. Looking over, I could just make out the silhouettes of Vivi and Mel behind the blizzard and I used the distraction to get some distance on the angel, who now looked livid with rage.

"_Are you feeling okay, Heath?"_ Iris asked as I dusted my hands off on my armour; _"I can use some magic to help heal you if you're tired or wounded..."_

"I'm okay..." I muttered, looking back up at Priel; "But that angel's going to get on my nerves. By the time we get close to Kingston, she'll just force us back again... we need a distraction..."

"Sir Heath!" I turned as Alph ran over, skidding to a halt on the ice next to me. An idea suddenly formed in my head, and I nodded knowingly to myself.

"Alph! Do you reckon you could convince the witches to spread out and get the others to back off?"

"H-huh?" Alph looked surprised at the request, looking around; "But... we're doing okay! We've got them both on the rope—"

"The more we attack, the angrier we get them. The angrier they get the more power they use..." I thought again and, after a moment, had a small brainstorm; "...Alph, get the others to separate and keep Priel at bay. Get Leon, yourself and Kai to distract Kingston at close-range and stall him; I need to speak to Saki and Nikolai. Keep Lucia and Cecille on stand-by just in case this goes wrong."

Alph nodded and began to turn, but paused and glanced back; "...and Theo?"

"...Actually, Theo would be better. Send Theo over here too."

Alph nodded and dashed off, almost skating across the ice as he whizzed past Saki. The black-haired, purple-clad ninja looked relatively surprised, but turned and ran over towards me. As she did, I spotted Theo and Nikolai running over too, the latter looking very exhausted.

"Sir Heath, you need my assistance?"

"Yeah. Saki, I need you to be a decoy... and target practice."

"Target... practice...?" Saki looked bewildered. Theo and Nikolai caught up with us and I began to explain my plan to them swiftly. After only a minute or so, the three were off to their respective locations; Nikolai to one side of the ridge and Theo to the other as Saki began to climb the rock face of the ravine's cliff edge. I nodded to myself in satisfaction and grabbed my spears again, running forward.

Now I just hoped that they'd fall for it.

Meanwhile Kai, Leon and Alph had taken on Kingston three-on-one. I knew that their weapons may not be able to get through the icy shell of a body he had, but my idea at the moment was simply to stall them both until Saki got into place. Diving forward, I nodded at Kai and the two of us went to either side of Kingston, trying a pincer attack. It did the trick; although not damaging him, it was enough to cause him to stagger and knock the staff out of his hand. Quick as a flash, Leon dove onto the ice and skidded along it, grabbing the staff in his free hand and rolling back to his feet.

"Hey Kingston!" He taunted, waving the staff; "Look what I have! Nyeh-nyeh-nyehnyeh-nyeh!"

"GRAAAAAAAGH!" Kingston looked like a blood vessel had just blown in his face as he lumbered towards Leon. The tall swordsman skidded back on the ice and hurled it over the ex-Cardinal's head in the other direction.

"Alph, catch!"

"I got it!" Alph yelled, grabbing the staff. As Kingston turned around, Alph stuck his tongue out and waggled it at the now furious monster; "Heeeey Kingy! Betcha can't catch me!"

Now looking absolutely livid, Kingston lumbered after the dragon-boy, trying to grab his staff back. Within a single moment Alph was off, skating across the ice almost like a professional. I couldn't help but laugh at the teamwork from my students.

...Students... no. They weren't my students anymore... they were my comrades.

My friends.

"_Heath, I think I see the ninja-girl!"_ Iris said from next to me. Turning, I spotted the silhouette of Saki getting on top of the cliff behind Priel; _"I think it's time to start your plan! Let's hope Alph told everyone... but you need to get the staff back off of him or it won't work!"_

I nodded and whistled. Alph turned and, seeing me gesture for the staff, hurled it as hard as he could. Sheathing one of my spears, I caught the soaring piece of metal and began to run myself, letting out a battle cry.

This was the cue.

At once, Saki stepped out from behind Priel and threw her Kunai at the angel. The blade hit the angel in the back and, although not doing a lot of damage, it was enough to distract her. Crying out, Priel spun on her heel to glare at Saki as the Witch's let their attacks subside; "Like, what was THAT for? You are, like, SO ANNOYING!"

"I'm just being target practice..." Saki grinned before suddenly throwing another Kunai at her. Priel blocked the weapon with her bow and was about to retort when something struck the top of her head. Wincing, she noticed Saki catch Kingston's staff and waving it above her head; "Hey Kingston! Up here!"

Priel blinked as Saki juggled the staff before nodding and throwing it at Priel and running. Priel blinked as she caught the staff, staring at it for a moment or two. Turning in mid-air, her eyes suddenly widened as a huge blast of cold air and ice slammed into her face from Kingston, causing her to drop the staff; "PWEH! HEY!"

As the staff flew out of her hand, two things struck both of her wings very painfully. Giving a cry, she looked down to see both Nikolai and Theo on either side of her, their bows raised to fire again. As the angel readied her own bow and pointed it down towards Theo, she suddenly felt wobbly; glancing to her right, she saw that Theo's arrow was buried right into one of the nerve-points in her wing. It was a Stunning arrow, meaning two things; the first thing was that now she couldn't use her right wing.

The second thing that she realised was that she was about to lose a lot of height very quickly.

"THIS IS, LIKE, SO UNFAIR!" Priel screeched as she promptly tumbled from the sky followed by a loud smack as she face-planted the ice several metres below her. The fall didn't kill her since she still had one wing functioning, but that didn't bother me. The next attack would finish both her and Kingston off in two fell swoops.

"Hey Kingston!" I yelled, turning to face the ex-Cardinal. With a flourish of my arm, I caught the staff as it fell and volleyed it through the air, sending it clattering towards Priel; "Go fetch!"

"GWAAAAAAAAGH!" Kingston dived towards his staff, hell-bent on destroying us obviously. The ex-Cardinal crashed clean into the angel, sending them both sprawling. After a few seconds of untangling themselves, Kingston grabbed his staff and turned around, ready to cast a spell at us.

"OKAY CLAIRE, NOW!"

"Witches!" Claire shouted, pointing at Kingston and Priel together; "Put all of your power together and use your strongest attacks!"

"Burned would be an UNDERSTATEMENT! **HELLFIRE!**" Vanessa swung her scythe towards the pair, who were still in the process of charging a spell. The ground beneath them trembled, then rocked as a huge explosion tore through the ice, blasting the two from beneath; "Mel, you're next!"

"It's raining pain! **Ice Crush!**" Mel chimed, spinning and pointing her favourite oversized leaf at the duo. As the two landed from the explosion, the ice that was blown apart from the ruptured ground flew back together and dropped like a ten-ton weight on top of the two, shattering into tiny pieces; "Mavi!"

"We'll protect the Earth! **Gaia Rage!**" Mavi cried, punching her fist into the air. At that exact moment, an enormous root burst clean out of nowhere beneath the ice, shattering the surface and reaching into the air. The root began to sprout small vines, wrapping around and ensnaring the ex-Cardinal and the angel in their growing wake; "Vivi!"

"You can't run from me... **Tornaaaado...**" Vivi chimed in her tired, sing-song voice as she pointed her magical lamp at the duo stuck in the vines. Without warning, the shattered chunks of ice began to spin around, being picked up by a tornado that had suddenly sprouted from nowhere, the small shards of frozen water slamming into the pair who were stuck in the vines, now battered by ice, vines, twigs and the like; "It's aaaaaall you, Lady Claaaaaire..."

"Y-you've made me angry! **Volt storm!**" Claire held up her magical book and the pages of the book floated out, beginning to float around her. As this happened, a loud thunderclap was heard before several very powerful and very precise lightning bolts shot forth, smashing into the huge root. The root itself almost acted like a lightning conductor, drawing the lightning into the tornado spinning around it and creating an amazing array of sparks, a bright blue glow now encasing the entire tornado as it crackled with electricity; "Finish it off, Lucia!"

"Light! Come to my aid! **Sun Cross!**" Lucia yelled, lifting her wand into the air before pointing it at the tornado. Several balls of golden light shot from the end of her wand, beginning to circle around the tornado; all at once, they started to zoom in and out of the crackling monstrosity, collecting sparks and bits of ice as they went in and out of the giant funnel of death. Finally, the small orbs collided right in the centre of the tornado and a deafening explosion was heard, the entire ground shaking as the light from the Solar Flare-looking attack burst forth from the tornado.

"_We're not done yet!"_ I heard Iris yell from next to me, and a grin crossed my face; _"Are you ready, Heath?"_

"Yes, just as long as you are!" I called back and waved to Alph, miming something to him. Getting the picture, Alph pointed his sword at me and called out a spell; a sudden warm glow began to envelop me, and I realised I was surrounded by a soft, orange glow.

This spell made me invulnerable to magic for a few precious seconds.

That was all I needed. With a yell, I grabbed both of my spears and dived headlong into the tornado. Every sound around me was wiped out from the sheer roar of the monstrous beast surrounding me and it truly was magic that I hadn't been blown off of my feet or incinerated or... something.

"_Heath! My strength is yours!"_ Iris cried, and I felt power surge through me; _"Disengaging limiter; power outage at two-hundred per cent! Maximum overload!"_

"We do this... TOGETHER!" I cried, leaping up against the whirling funnel of death pushing me back down and, almost as if it was drawn by fate itself, I found myself exactly where I wanted to be.

Face-to-face with Kingston. The once-man's eyes widened in utter shock as I drew both of my spears back, the power surging into them from Iris' strength and my own.

"JOIN THE SOULS THAT YOU SO WILLINGLY SACRIFICED! THIS IS FOR THE FALLEN AND FOR IRIS TOO!" I brought the spears slicing across, forming an X-shape and slicing as hard as I could, filling my blood with all of the rage, hatred, sorrow and pain that he'd put us both through.

"_**PROTECT THE LIGHT, CONDEMN THE GOD!"**_ We both yelled, bringing the spears across.

"_**ERASER CROSS!"**_

The eruption of energy felt like it could almost rupture the fabric of space itself. I felt everything around me seem to cave in on itself simply to the point where the two spears had crossed in the middle, and I was both blinded and deafened by the crushing amount of energy coming from all around me.

When I opened my eyes, I was standing on the ice on the edge of a huge hole left in the surface. The glow from my spears slowly faded as did the orange glow of the Rym Wall spell Alph casted on me. Nothing but the wind blew as we all stared into the large, murky crater of water left by the tornado of death.

In it floated nothing more than a snapped staff, a broken bronze bow...

...and a steadily sinking cardinal's hat.

"It's... it's over..." I whispered, more to myself than anyone. The man who had caused Iris and myself so much pain... so much suffering and anguish... was now gone. Gone to join the rest of the souls he had sent to the afterlife.

"_Heath..."_ Iris whispered as I felt my knees give way and I fell to my knees, using my two spears to prop myself upright; _"...You did great, Heath. I'm so proud."_

"No... _we_ did it..." I replied quietly, glancing over my shoulder as the rest of the group approached; "Iris... we all did this. Together... as a team."

"I have to say..." Nikolai spoke up finally, breaking the silence; "That... was a very daring plan, Sir Heath."

"You did really well, Sir Heath!" Cecille commented, giving me a wide smile; "We're all glad that you're okay."

I felt two arms link under my shoulders as both Leon and Kai lifted me to my feet. Alph approached along with Theo in front of me; the latter giving me a tight hug; "Sir Heath! I'm so glad you're safe!"

"Sir Heath..." Alph spoke, a look of strange uncertainty on his face. I reached over and rested my hand on his shoulder after sheathing my spears; "Ah...!"

"Heath is fine, Alph. We're comrades now; there's no need to keep calling me 'Sir'."

"But..." Alph protested, looking around at his teammates; "But... that was... that was crazy!"

"People do crazy things sometimes, Alph..." I replied quietly, giving him a weak smile.

"_Especially for the ones they love,"_ I heard Iris speak in my ear gently and I nodded in response.

A sudden splashing noise brought us all back to reality; glancing over, we were all shocked to see Priel swim to shore and shakily climb out of the freezing water. Her clothes were in tatters and her hair was a complete mess, the halo over her head having lost most of its glow now. Her wings looked almost completely devoid of feathers and her entire body looked as if she'd gone through a barbed-wire fence at high speed. Shakily, the angel collapsed onto the ice further away, simply lying there and catching her breath.

"Unbelievable...!" I heard Saki whisper from somewhere behind me; "She... she survived...?"

"Incredible..." Lucia looked slack-jawed as the angel attempted to stand, barely managing to make it to one knee before having to rest; "But it... looks like she can barely move..."

As we cautiously approached, Priel looked up towards us. Her features, once having been plastered with a wide smirk or a cheerful (albeit slightly creepy) grin were now deadpan and emotionless. Her eyes were sunken spheres of emptiness and for the first time, I saw neither an angel working for Zaheal to destroy the Earth nor an annoying spoilt angel with everything going for her.

What I saw crumpled on the ice in front of me was a girl. A young girl who, judging by her looks, could have been no older than Iris herself. Alph drew his gun and pointed it at her, but he obviously seemed to see the same thing that I was. His hand faltered a little before slowly lowering the barrel of the rifle.

"...K-Kingston... he couldn't handle the power of the Water Lapistier..." Priel's voice was broken, nothing like the happy, chirpy, annoying angel we'd battled not five minutes ago; "...he's... dead now... isn't he?"

"...Yes," I responded. The question wasn't directed at us, but for some reason, I felt obliged to answer it; "The end of a man who tried to become a God... a man who abused the Church's power; stay your hand, Leon." I lifted my spear to stop Leon from grabbing his sword; "...Where is the Water Lapistier?"

Slowly, Priel lifted her hand to show the glittering blue rock resting in it; "Even after... I gave him all that power... h-he still... and I..." her voice trailed off as her head hung down. Without warning, her arm dropped down and the Lapistier fell out, rolling to a stop by my feet; "...take it."

"What...?"

"Just... take it..." Priel didn't even look up at us; "...take it and let me die."

"Priel..." Alph looked genuinely sympathetic, his eyes softening a little. There was a short silence between us all, each one of us staring down at the collapsed angel in front of us. Leon, Vanessa and some of the others still looked genuinely angry, but most of the rest of us just seemed confused and lost in thought.

"_Heath, what are you planning to do?"_ I heard Iris ask and I shook my head in response; _"I know she was our enemy, but I... I feel bad killing her in cold blood now... not like this."_

I shook my head slowly, staring at the fallen angel; _'Iris is right... I can't possibly kill her like this, even if she was our enemy. Something doesn't seem right, though... it's almost like we've forgotten about—WAIT A MOMENT!'_ I spun on the spot and my heart sank as I saw the huge crack suddenly making its way down the side of the cocoon.

_That_ was what we'd forgotten about. The cocoon.

With a sound like a million rifles firing at once, the cocoon split clean in half, a bright light spilling out of it. From the depths of the cocoon we heard a deafening roar as something seemed to emerge from the cocoon.

It was a very tall angel-like figure; large, white wings on either side of him with silver hair down his back. The figure wore long, blue-and-black robes with white feathers lining it and, when he tossed his head back, he let out a loud roar that shook the ground itself.

"M-Master God... has reawakened...!" I heard Priel saying from behind me; "The cocoon hatched...!"

"That's... GOD?" Alph cried out, staring at the figure in disbelief; "That's ZAHEAL?"

"A being with enough power to end the world... more powerful than any other being on the planet..." Claire said quietly, her face paling; "...that's what Zaheal is... a God that wants to do nothing but consume the planet and everything on it."

"Grrreeeeaaaaaaagh!" Zaheal roared loudly, leaning his head back; "GRAAAAAAAGH!"

"...Zaheal...!" I felt someone push me slightly to the side and I watched as Priel staggered forward before falling onto her knees; "Master God... I tried so hard! I, like... Priel is like... so sorry..."

"YOU HAVE FAILED ME, PRIEL..." Zaheal roared, his eyes focusing on the small angel; "YOU FAILED TO DESTROY THE WITCHES."

"I... M-Master God...!" Priel whined, her voice now very faint; "P-Priel tried... she tried her hardest to, like... to please you... please don't be angry at pretty pretty Priel..."

"I DO NOT TOLERATE FAILURE," Zaheal bellowed, his eyes glaring daggers at the tiny angel; "I WILL HAVE NO CHOICE BUT TO DISPOSE OF THEM MYSELF... AND YOU ALONG WITH THEM."

"Wh-what?" Priel cried in a tiny voice, backing up and now huddling her knees to her chest; "M-Master God... n-nooooo!" Tears began to stream down the angel's face; "I tried! I really tried! I love Master God! P-Priel's, like... his number one fan...!"

"SILENCE!" Zaheal thundered, his arm rising into the air. A ball of energy began to form in his hand as he pointed it at us; "YOU SHALL ALL PERISH! LET ME CONSUME YOU A—AGH!"

Without any warning, Zaheal suddenly buckled and the energy ball dissipated instantly. With a roar, the God looked around to see what the problem was as the Witches all seemed to look confused.

"Is... is the planet itself fighting God...?" Claire asked quietly. As if in response, the icy landscape around us began to glow gently and Zaheal let out another roar of fury.

"This... little planet is... interrupting Master God...?" Priel stared at the Earth beneath her; "But... how...?"

"FOOLISH! THIS PLANET IS WORTHLESS! AND SO ARE ALL OF YOU!" Zaheal leapt into the air using his wings before summoning a large ball of energy; "BE CONSUMED AND QUENCH MY HUNGER!"

"Nooooo!" Priel screamed, holding her hands over her head; "Don't eat pretty pretty Priel!"

"Everyone, move!" Alph yelled and as one, the group hurled themselves to either side to avoid the ball of energy that would've consumed them. As the ball of energy shot closer, I glanced back, something seemed to jar in my heart and, looking at Priel, I saw a spitting image of Iris in that same position. Before I knew what I was doing, I had turned and was running back over to her.

"Iris! Protective barrier, **now!**"

"_Uh, right!"_ Iris sounded quite surprised from my sudden action, but did as she was asked; as I ducked down next to the crumpled angel, I felt the warm glow of Iris' barrier surround me. Squinting my eyes upwards, I watched as the ball of energy slammed into the force-field and pressed against it. I heard Iris cry out from next to me and I gave a loud snarl, pushing my own energy back against the energy ball. The barrier seemed to grow brighter slightly and after a few seconds, the ball of energy shot by Zaheal floated away, fizzling into nothing.

"WHAT?" Zaheal roared, glaring at me; "WHY DO YOU INSIST ON HELPING THE WEAK?"

"...I am a knight," I responded calmly, looking back at the God; "I do what I do not to serve the Church or you... I do it as a duty. A knight's duty... is to protect those who are in need." I glanced down at Priel, who was still cowering with her hands over her head.

"...Even if she did try to kill us... too many lives have been lost. The last two that need to go... are Kingston and Zaheal. I failed to protect people once, I won't fail again."

"_Heath..."_ Iris whispered gently and, for a brief second, I almost thought I saw her floating next to me; _"...You really are a great knight."_

"THIS PLANET... IS FILLED WITH PUNY INSECTS!" God roared, his face now livid with anger; "POINTLESS MORALS AND PATHETIC DREAMS WILL ALL BECOME A THING OF THE PAST!" Zaheal's wings extended outward as he began to glow; "I SHALL FIND THE PLANET'S CORE... AND CONSUME IT!" With that, the God vanished in a flash of light, the large glowing orb of magic flying North.

There was nothing left but a deathly silence now; nobody moved for a good few seconds. Finally, after a few seconds, I heard footsteps coming up from behind me.

"Why did you save her?"

I turned, facing Kai as he looked down at the still-cowering angel; "...In a way... she reminds me of Iris..." I looked down at Priel sadly, shaking my head quietly; "Sure she was made by him, but... she was only trying to do what she thought was right, to get God to be reborn... and yet she was almost destroyed because of it. Nobody in the Luminous Church's religion is safe... not even angels, Kai."

"Hmph..." Kai looked down at Priel again as the others walked over; "...So what now?"

"It's obvious; we follow Zaheal," I responded, looking towards where he left; "Claire, do you have any idea why he went north?"

"Yes," Claire responded, sifting through her magic book once again; "Near the Northern-most part of the world is a place known as "The Portal". The Portal leads to the centre of the planet."

"Then that's where we're headed!" Alph declared, pointing to the North; "Let's go! To the Portal!"

As the others began to walk, I gently reached down and picked up Priel, hoisting her onto my shoulder as we started to walk. She didn't respond to this, and it took me a few seconds to realise that she'd passed out. Shaking my head, I turned and began to follow everyone; "...I'll inform her of what's happened when she wakes up... but I can't leave her here, she'll freeze to death."

"_Heath..."_ Iris asked quietly and I felt something take hold of my free hand; _"...Why did you save her?"_

"I let you go, Iris..." I whispered under my breath; "and you didn't deserve to suffer... neither does she. She survived that attack... that proves to me that she's worthy of a second chance. Besides, enough people have died and been harmed thanks to God. It's time to show him that we're not insects anymore – we can take whatever he throws at us."

"_Heath..."_ Iris said quietly and for another brief moment, I thought I saw her floating next to me again; _"...I understand. I'm also... relieved that we're okay. Kingston... he's finally gone."_

"Yeah... I got my revenge..." I turned to look up at the sky; "but... we're not done yet."

"_No... We're not, are we?"_

I shook my head and smiled at where I'd seen her image appear. With Iris by my side and in my heart, I felt invincible. Finally, we were back together and I could do something I had failed to do before.

I could protect her.

"Now... we go for _God._"

-/-/-/-/-/-

**For brief comedy moments? When Heath breaks out of the ice-crystal, open YouTube and find the theme tune to "Terminator 2". Blame my friend for that image of Heath being the Terminator. XD**

**Also, yes – Heath DID kick Kingston in the nuts. I couldn't resist, I hate the guy; he's so creepy. Also, the reason I saved Priel is actually something personal; I've played a lot of RPG games and I have to admit that Priel is by far one of my favourite antagonists along with iris, Jecht from Final Fantasy X and Nu from Blazblue. She won't play a major part in the story, don't worry... I just... fine, I'll admit it; I find Priel cute and I didn't want to see her die. Even if her voice is annoying as hell.**

**Finally, two Easter eggs for anyone who spots them, both are about Heath. The first one is his speech about "I am the Cleansing Flame!" which is a reference to another game. The second one; do Heath's new attacks look familiar to anyone? Blade Arm and Eraser Cross?**

**...Anyway, thanks for sticking with me. I've got a lot of things to do, but I'll try to get the next chapter up ASAP. Let's just hope my health decides to remain on the 'high' level.**

**Yours,**

**+Regii+**


	7. Chapter 7: Scene 14 to 16

_**(Most people do a "Chapter that isn't a chapter just a big long-ass note that I can't be bothered to continue or whatever" thing… I'm not. Get ready for MASSIVELY LONG Author's Note.)**_

_**From previous chapter: '...Anyway, thanks for sticking with me. I've got a lot of things to do, but I'll try to get the next chapter up ASAP. Let's just hope my health decides to remain on the 'high' level.'**_

_HA HA. I love my optimism._

…_Seriously… I cannot begin to tell you how sorry I am about how late I am with this… really. I feel dreadful keeping you in suspense. So many things happened to me, so I will try to list them without boring you half to death or anything. It's contains the reasons why I haven't updated for so long and also some back-story into my life in general._

_**Be warned, it's long; it IS a full explanation.**_

_Well, to start off I had to get a new computer. My old one was lagging out so badly that it would take about forty minutes just to start up… and eventually just quit. Luckily, I moved all of my stuff to my memory stick so it was saved, but I had to get a new laptop and sort things like Skype, MSN and other such things out on it. Then, SOMEHOW, it got a virus that's been going around via e-mails and photo sharing on Skype. I had already practically finished Chapter six by this point, so that was the first thing I moved onto my memory stick (along with many other things) before I did a complete system restore. The virus had gone from my computer._

…_Turns out it went to my memory stick… and corrupted the entire memory stick. Everything was gone – my voice acting stuff, my pictures, my writing (not just of WP, but of a ton of other things I had done) and a load of important documents. Safe to say, I was peeved. I got my mojo back a bit at the beginning of June, but then I had to go off on holiday to Scotland for my cousin's wedding. I came back during July and got sick with a bad cold so I couldn't think straight. After about a week, I felt better, fully revitalized and ready to write. I got on Skype to some friends, opened a word document…_

…_and my lung split. No joke; a blood vessel in my lung actually tore in half… somehow. It's also not the first time it has happened. So, back into hospital with MORE BLOOD coming out of my mouth from my lung… I was in for maybe a week and a half, but I lost all of my writing mojo and I've been feeling so icky recovering that I haven't been able to write. It was only a few days ago when I saw two reviews asking for me to come back. Finally pushing my sickness aside, I am back and here with you once again._

_**End of Explanation.**_

…_But as I said, I'm back with you guys for more Withered Petals! Do not fear; I would never think about NOT finishing it! I've come too far to stop now, and do you know why?_

_It's because of all of you. Most people just thank their reviewers and readers without a second thought, but… you guys mean a lot to me. I know it may not seem much from all of the time I've been away, but… you guys are the greatest. Thank you so much for putting up with me._

_And so, to commemorate… here's the semi-final chapter of Withered Petals! I KNOW, I'M NEARLY DONE. HECK YEAH._

_This chapter contains… ah, I'm not giving anything away! That'd be spoilers!_

_**Disclaimer:** Chapter one, I'm too lazy._

-/-/-/-/-

**Withered Petals**

/-/-/-/-

As if we didn't have enough of a problem. It turns out that Zahaal, in attempts to pro-long our time in getting to him, had used some of his power to make the sea currents to the south of the island un-crossable. This meant that, much to our frustration, we had to back-track the way we had come all the way to the Northern Mountain range, meaning we had to cross two entire continents. It was a long journey, but most of the towns that we had passed recognised us (or certainly the Fatal Hounds at the least) and had offered to lend us coaches, horses and the like. We were all grateful for this because as Alph put it; 'the faster we get to Zahaal, the better!'.

As we went, I was bombarded with questions as to what happened during the fight with Kingston; where the armour had come from, why I had two lances, what had prompted the plan and so forth. I answered them as best as I could along with Iris, who seemed to be getting accustomed to people not being able to see or hear her. However, some of the questions that were directed at us neither one of us could answer; questions such as, "Is Iris' body still alive?" or "how can you two combine your powers?". Although we answered the best we could, we had no real answers for some of them. We simply stuck with the normal answer of 'we'll find out eventually', which was given to me via Iris.

The Witches seemed especially interested in what had happened to me. Mavi and Vanessa tested my physical capabilities whilst Claire and Cecille tested Iris' magical capabilities. Although our strength was pretty much the same as before I had transformed, we found that we could combine some of our attacks; mostly involving electricity in my spears or parts of my body, like my foot when I had kicked Kingston during the battle. Our power, as Claire put it, was very intriguing to all of the Witches.

"It's a lot like the power of a Witch and a Rym…" Claire had told me, tilting her head as we had sat opposite each other one evening in the rented carriage; "However… you and Iris share a bond that is the same, yet different. You love her?"

"Yes."

"She loves you?"

"_Of course…"_ I heard Iris confirm in my ear, which I repeated to Claire. Claire tilted her head to the other side, squinting a little before consulting her book.

"…The only thing that I can suggest is that it must be to do with the spiritual connection with the two of you. There is nothing in my book about it, and since Mother Lapis is gone, I cannot ask her…" Claire's hand reached up, tapping the Krystonan lightly at my neck. Iris gave a light gasp before letting out a soft giggle in response, the flower glowing slightly as she did so. Claire leaned back, smiling and looking pleased with herself.

"It seems that you two have come across some kind of unknown magic. We'll have to research into this when Zehaal is defeated. …I-I mean… if you both don't mind…" She quickly added, looking down at her hands as she closed the book. Glancing to the side, I imagined Iris sitting next to me in my mind's eye and nodded slightly.

"I am… but it's up to you, Iris."

"…" Iris seemed to hesitate before opening her mouth slowly; _"…Will you be working on… us… for your research…?"_

"…That's a point," I muttered, reaching out and stroking where her hair was in my mind's eye. Her face seemed to relax a little, and I felt light pressure on my body as she leaned against me, closing her eyes; "After what happened at the Round Table Council, tests aren't really a thing for you, are they?"

"It's okay…" Claire said quietly, nodding softly at us; "I… I promise we'll do as little as we have to do, and I guarantee, as the leader of the Witches, that I won't let any serious harm come to either of you."

"…_I… I trust you…"_ Iris said softly after a few minutes, looking up at me; _"Heath…?"_

"I trust that you'll keep your word, Lady Claire." I reached my hand out and shook hers gently. As I did, Iris placed her hand over my own, joining in on the handshake; "Now… I must get some sleep. We'll be passing Gamarr and Dotruvar tomorrow, so I must be awake to make sure that we keep to the path. I know the route well."

"Of course," Claire stood up, dusting herself off and smiling at me; "I bid you goodnight, Sir Heath…" As she turned to leave however, another thought struck her and, giving a light giggle, she turned her head back around.

"…Goodnight to you too, Iris."

"Goodnight Lady Claire," The two of us replied simultaneously. Once she had gone, I stood and headed outside and towards our tent. Quickly saying my goodnights to Kai and the others, I rested inside of my tent, closing the flap and beginning to remove some of my armour. As I did, I could see the faint, slightly translucent silhouette of Iris on the other side of the tent, her outline framed by the soft glow of the orange fire from the campsite. She was staring out at the fire from within the tent, facing away from me. As I pulled the blanket up over my body, her head turned and, even as a silhouette, I could see her bright blue eyes staring at me through the darkness. She had a slightly worried expression on her face, and I could tell that something was wrong.

"…Iris?"

"_Yes?"_

"What's the matter? You seem… distant."

Iris' head hung down for a moment before she looked back over at the fire; _"…Heath… I want to ask you something."_

"Go ahead."

"_When we defeat Zehaal…"_ her voice trailed off for a moment before she looked back over at me, as if trying to help string her words together; _"…Heath… when we defeat Zehaal, I… I may not be able to get my body back. I may have to face the possibility of never having a true body again. It… makes me really worried to think that I could just be some kind of spirit that follows you around for eternity, not really having any purpose,"_ her eyes rested on me, her face looking very sad; _"…What would you say if that were to happen? I mean… well…"_

"Iris," I spoke calmly, reaching out to touch her. To my surprise, I felt my fingers brush against the silk-like fabric of her robe; "Whether you get your body back is something that we'll have to think about in the future. Right now, we have to focus on defeating Zehaal. You shouldn't let thoughts like that pull you away from our goal."

"_But—"_

"Also…" I added in a softer tone, stroking her arm gently; "Just because you're a spirit doesn't mean that I don't still love you. Even if you remain a spirit forever, Iris, that won't change anything. Even when you became the Steel Witch and now as a spirit, you'll always be Iris to me; I'll love you no matter what. Please don't forget that."

"_I… I won't,"_ Iris smiled gently, looking away and her translucent face turning a shade of pink that was visible even against the reddish-orange glow of the fire in the background; _"Thank you, Heath. I… I, um…"_ She began to look away a little sheepishly; _"I should… sit outside the tent and keep watch…"_

"No, it's fine. Saki and Leon are on guard duty tonight; let them do it. You rest up." As an indication, I moved over and patted the space next to me on the blanket laid out as a mattress. Iris' eyes widened almost comically and she shook her head repeatedly and very rapidly.

"_N-no no no no no! I… I couldn't! H-Heath, I… but…!"_

"Iris, rest…" I commanded and, before she could respond, I grabbed her hand and pulled her towards me, dragging her onto the blanket. The girl gave a loud squeal of surprise, babbling incoherently for a few seconds as I pulled the second blanket back up over the pair of us, holding onto her tightly. After a few moments of attempting to struggle free, Iris simply remained motionless, lying down awkwardly and not making eye contact with me. Smiling lightly, I rested myself down on the blanket with her, reaching up and stroking her hair just like I'd done earlier; "Relax, it's alright. You might be a spirit, but you still need rest."

"_But… with you…?!"_

"Why not?"

"_W-well… when a guy and a girl… you know… um… sleep together…"_ Iris looked away and, with a sudden start, I realised exactly WHERE her mind was going; _"V-Vanessa was telling Alph and Lucia to share the same bed tonight and—"_

"No more, Iris," I interjected abruptly, placing my hand over her mouth; "I'm going to have a very heavy word with Vanessa tomorrow; there are kids around like Theo and Mel who should not be hearing things like that. Just forget what she said; its fine for people to like each other and just rest together."

"…_Promise?"_

"Promise."

Iris seemed to consider the facts for a moment, but then simply relaxed and moved a little closer to me, sighing gently; _"…Alright, I trust you Heath. I'll rest, like you said I should."_

"Good," I smiled gently, patting her head; "We'll need all of our energy for travelling tomorrow and for when we finally fight God. You should rest up as much as possible until then."

"_Sure thing…"_ Iris mumbled as her eyes closed, resting her face into my chest; _"Goodnight Heath… I love you…"_

"I love you too, Iris…" I replied gently, leaning down and kissing her hair gently. Iris moved as close as she could and, even though she was still a spirit, it felt like her actual body was right there next to me. She felt so real, so light, so gentle… so fragile. It felt like if I let go of her, I'd lose her forever. Instinctively, I held onto her a little tighter, closing my eyes as well.

No… I wasn't going to lose her. Not this time.

I'm going to keep my promise.

-/-/-/-/-

The next day, we found ourselves making good time. We had passed through Gamarr already and had stopped for an early lunch on Leastre Bridge. To our surprise, Priel had woken up after her several days of recovery and had now become a staple, albeit slightly quirky, member of our group. Although she could be a little loud, she gave us some information on what we might expect whilst fighting Zahaal and although she didn't know many life skills, she offered to help many of the group out with tasks that morning. Although it was a nice gesture, many of the group seemed to still be a bit wary of her presence, which seemed to dampen the angel's mood. She seemed to be keeping her distance from several members of the group however – namely the Witches, but she also seemed to be avoiding Alph and I as well. I wasn't sure why, but we had both caught her staring at us both on repeated occasions. Whenever we did look however, she would quickly turn her gaze and occupy herself with something else.

"_I think she likes you both!"_ Iris had joked at one point, which had almost made me spit out the water from our separate water jugs and had acquired me some very strange looks from the others by doing so. I kept this information from Alph, though – if Lucia had found out, it wouldn't have been pretty. The Dawn Witch was quite volatile anyway; I didn't want to provoke enemies within the group.

As we cleared up our lunch and began to head onwards, I found myself staring over the edge of the bridge into the water below. Memories began to flood back into my mind of long ago; when I had first found Iris in the field of flowers on the bank of the river, taking the crystal clear water and dribbling it into her mouth, taking her back to the barracks…

"_Heath… I know what you're thinking…"_ Iris spoke gently into my ear, making me jump a little; _"You want to go back to that field of Krystonans… don't you?"_

"Yes… you don't mind, do you?"

"_I was actually going to ask you if we could…"_ Iris giggled a little, and I felt something brush my cheek lightly; _"It's fine with me, but… the others want to leave to fight Zehaal."_

"It won't take too long, Iris. Only a few minutes." I turned to face the carriages, walking back over as the supplies were loaded; "Alph, hold on a minute!"

Alph, who was getting ready to climb inside one of the carriages, turned around to face me after stepping down and walking towards me; "Hm? What's up, Sir… I mean… Heath?"

"Is something wrong?" Theo asked, leaning out of the carriage and looking over at me; "Sir Heath?"

"Iris and I would like to make a brief stop nearby, Alph. Will this be a problem?" I questioned, folding my arms and jerking my head slightly to the side to indicate Iris next to me, which they obviously couldn't see. Alph looked inside the carriage, whose occupants had heard the conversation and were looking back over at us; "I promise we won't be too long."

"…No, it's not a problem. Where are you planning on headed?"

"It's very close by. Just down towards the river a little. You can all come if you wish for it; it's not a problem…" I glanced to my right; "Right, Iris?"

"_Of course not,"_ Iris smiled, nodding back at me; _"It's probably better if they come; we could run into monsters…"_

"…Alright…" Alph nodded as several members of the group got off of the carriage, following us towards the route down that I had known so well.

As we navigated our way down towards the river, it struck me how different the path looked to me. The grass had become brown and bristly, the trees had become old and overgrown and thorns lined the sides of the pathway, catching on clothing and armour in some places. Using my spear to cut through some of the overgrown foliage, I felt something strange inside of me… as if my heart wanted to rise at the memory of the place and yet sink at how much it had changed.

Finally, we made it to the river bank and began to make our way back to the clearing that I had first encountered Iris in. As we approached it however, my heart really did sink as much as I thought it would. The entire area was void of all but a few tiny flowers and the banks of the once crystal-clear river were now muddy and dark. Walking to the middle of the clearing, I stopped and glanced to my right. Iris had a similar expression to me; her head hung low and her eyes cast downwards to the grassy ground. As the group came up behind us, I turned around to look at them.

"…It's here."

"Wow!" Theo chimed, looking over towards the river with some of the other group members; "What a beautiful river!"

"When I first came here, the river was so clear that you could see the pebbles at the bottom," I informed them, gesturing to it; "The banks weren't muddy either; they had grass right down to the river's edge. I guess the people who kept it that way don't do it anymore…"

"I remember this…" Kai spoke from a few feet next to me as he walked over; "This is where we used to patrol. From Gamarr, down the river… then across the bridge further down and over to Dotruvar, correct?"

"Yes," I nodded in agreement as I lifted my arm and began to stroke Iris' head lightly, turning back to the group; "Long ago, when I was… maybe eighteen or so… I remember coming here and seeing a field of white flowers. They covered the entire patch of this bend of the river…" I gestured to the field we were standing in now before letting my arms fall to my sides and staring back at the ground.

"But… now they've all been eaten by monsters, so there are only a few left that I can see…"

"That must've been, like… really nice to look at…" Priel said softly from behind me. As I turned to look at her, she quickly averted her gaze and became thoroughly occupied with a blade of grass nearby, not looking back at me. With a smile, I walked over and rested a hand on the angel's shoulder.

"It was. If I'd known you all at the time, I would have taken you all here…"

"What exactly IS this place?" Alph asked, still not seeming to be too thrilled with the scenery. I opened my mouth to answer, but the words caught in my throat for a moment. Glancing to my side, I saw Iris give a slight nod towards me.

"_Tell them,"_ She said gently, taking my hand; _"It's about time that you told them the whole truth, Heath… and, um…"_ she fiddled a little with her robe, giggling a little; _"I… I'd like to stay with you here for a few more moments."_

"…" I stared at her for a few seconds before looking back at Alph and the others, clearing my throat a little to catch the attention of the others; "Well… the reason we wanted to come here was because…" I took a gulp of air to prepare myself before letting the words out.

"…This is where I first met Iris."

Everyone besides Kai and Iris jumped at this remark, all of their attention coming to focus on me. Alph himself gave a genuine step back in alarm before blurting out; "Iris? You mean the Steel Witch?"

"Alph!" Lucia snapped, smacking him across the face; "Don't be so rude! Not to mention she's here listening to us as well! Don't be so inconsiderate!"

"Ow…" Alph rubbed the side of his cheek gingerly before shaking his head; "…Sorry Sir Heath… you too, Iris. I didn't mean for that to come out; I was just so shocked… I didn't mean to insult you both."

"_No, he's right… I am the Steel Witch…"_ Iris said sadly from next to me; _"I… I can't change that; it's become part of who I am…"_

"…There's no denying you're the Steel Witch, Iris…" I said gently, stroking her head again; "But as I said yesterday, that doesn't matter to me. What matters to me is that you're Iris, and that's that," with that, I turned back to the group at large and cleared my throat again; "It's true that Iris was… and still is… the Steel Witch. We're not going to pretend that it never happened, but… it wasn't always like this…" I turned, looking back out at the river.

"…When I was eighteen, Kai and I were on patrol here one day when I decided to head off for a walk. When I came to this clearing… I found Iris passed out amongst the flowers…" With another look towards Iris, I continued on with an encouraging nod from her; "…she was faint from hunger and dehydration and had passed out in the field from walking for three days straight. Her parents had been in a dreadful accident up on the mountains and had both passed away. Iris came here and passed out in the flowers, which is where I found her…" Sighing, I sat down in the grass, looking up at the sky.

"I found her and brought her back to town… I nursed her back to health in the barracks before offering to let her come and live with me. I taught her as much as I could… about what was right and wrong and… she became an irreplaceable part of my life. I couldn't imagine a day going by without making sure she was okay and hearing her kind voice…"

"_H-Heath, stop it…"_ Iris giggled, her hands over her cheeks as she sat next to me; _"You're making me blush!"_

Giving a light laugh, I took her hand and looked back at the group; "She loved the flowers that grew around here. They were white flowers…" I lifted the one from my neck to show them all; "Like this one. It's called a Krystonan flower. They used to grow in this field."

"I see…" Alph said slowly, sitting down near me, being followed by the rest of the group; "So this is where they came from."

"Yeah…" I responded lightly, nodding at him; "They were really beautiful flowers… I'm not ashamed to admit that I liked them myself, along with many other plants and flowers that Iris taught me about from the years we spent together… but no matter what flower she showed me, the Krystonan remained a staple for the two of us. It was where I found her, and the flower stuck with us as a symbol of our love towards each other…" I lowered my head slowly, staring down at the grass.

"…Iris once told me… that if she ever truly died… she wanted to be surrounded by these flowers… and I would have to agree…"

"_Heath…"_ Iris whispered, moving closer to me and taking my hands lightly and resting her head in my lap. Nobody said anything for a moment as I simply sat there, holding Iris tightly to me, the rest of the group just sitting staring at me in silence. After a few moments, I heard a slight rustling behind me, and I glanced around to see Priel leaning her arm towards me, her fist lightly clasping hold of two or three flowers that were unmistakably Krystonan flowers.

"…Are these the flowers you were talking about?"

"Y-yeah…" I said, quite surprised; "Where did you find them?"

Priel gestured to the trunk of a tree not too far away. Near its base, I spotted a few specks of white scattered here and there; "I, like… picked them just now. Maybe I shouldn't have, like, done that…"

"They're really pretty!" Theo chimed happily, looking at the flowers; "They're reflecting the sunlight! They're like a bunch of little fireflies!"

"Yeah…" I spoke gently, holding them close to me; "It's a shame that only a few of them are left."

"Then, once we beat Zehaal…" Mavi spoke up, looking back over at me; "How about we organize something to grow the flowers back in this area? Nature deserves to be beautiful, especially with flowers like that."

"Hey, yeah!" Leon chimed in, grinning; "I'll help too! If it's to help Sir Heath, then I'm all for it!"

"When did you ever want to do gardening, Leon?" Cecille teased him, causing the rest of the group to laugh, lifting the mood a little. Somehow though, I wasn't feeling too cheerful and continued to stare at the flowers in my hand. Iris turned her head slightly to look up at me, a curious look on her face.

"_What's wrong, Heath?"_

"I…" I stared at the flowers gently in my hand; "I wanted to be here… with you, Iris… for you to sit with me and see the flowers again, but… now…" I could feel a lump forming in my throat; "All you can do is look… you can't touch or feel them… what kind of a life is that?"

"_Heath…"_

"Iris, I…" I looked away, staring at the grass; "…I thought that saving your life was the right thing to do, but…" I felt my voice break a little, closing my eyes slowly.

"…_Heath…?"_

"…you might have been better off if… you'd just passed away in this field of flowers…" I whispered softly, opening my eyes to look at her; "No pain from Kingston… not having to be dragged into this fight against Zehaal… if you had passed on in the field of flowers… at least you would have been peaceful…"

"_H-Heath!"_ Iris sat up abruptly; _"Don't say that!"_

"Don't say that, Sir Heath!" I heard at the same time from next to me. Turning, I saw Theo sitting next to me, along with Alph and Cecille; "Of course not! I'm sure Iris was… and still is… very happy that you saved her back then!"

"Yeah!" Alph chimed in with his little brother, resting his arm on his younger brother's shoulder; "I know we can't hear or see her, but I know for a fact that Iris is grateful for everything that you've done for her! That's why she—" Alph's other hand flew to his mouth, quickly biting hard on it to stop his next words… that promptly lead to a slight yelp and a withdrawal of the now bleeding appendage. Obviously, he'd forgotten that he now had fangs.

"…" I stared at the two brothers for a moment before I felt a hand rest on my shoulder. Looking behind me, I was surprised to see Priel smiling at me; "…P-Priel… you too?"

"When I… attacked you guys, like, back at the Altar…" Priel looked down a little sheepishly; "I put all of my power into that attack. It was meant to, like, blow you guys to itty-bitty bits. But…" Priel looked back up at me with a genuine smile on her face; "If she, like… sacrificed herself to save you, that's a sure sign that, y'know… she really appreciates and loves you. That's, like… well… the impression I got, anyway."

"She's right!" Theo nodded, looking at Priel and nodding; "Iris put everything on the line for you, Sir Heath! It's because she loved you and wanted to protect you! She knew she was going to be hurt but she still put herself in danger to save you, meaning that she really must have been grateful for everything that you did for her!"

"Alph… Theo… Priel…" I whispered gently before finally turning my head; "Iris…"

"_They're right, Heath. Every word of it,"_ Iris smiled; _"You really did teach them well… of course…"_ She gave a little giggle, taking my hand with the Krystonan flowers; _"They were learning under the best Arc Knight in the land."_

I gave a little smile and wrapped my free arm around her, pulling her towards me. Her hand gently tightened around the hand holding the Krystonan flowers as she closed her eyes, kissing me gently. As she did, I felt a strange wave of power fill my body, travelling from our hands and spreading throughout my body all the way to my feet and back up, finally to our lips pressed against each other. After a few moments, I opened my eyes to look at her, pulling back gently. Iris was smiling, her eyes still closed, but… something was different. She seemed to be a bit more visible; not as see-through and ghost-like. As I turned to the side, I caught Alph, Theo and Priel staring at us. Realising that I must've looked stupid kissing thin air, I let my arm slide from around Iris' shoulders and rub the back of my head sheepishly.

"Oops, eheheh… sorry. Iris and I were off in our own world…"

"…We noticed…" Alph said slowly, his eyes not moving from us; "…We can see her."

"_What?"_ Iris' eyes snapped open, leaning away from me; _"You… can see me?!"_

"Yeah!" Theo chimed happily before another thought struck him; "We can hear you too! Iris!"

"But… how…?!" I asked slowly, staring at Iris; "She's a bit more solidified to me, definitely, but…"

"Um…" Priel tapped my shoulder lightly, pointing to my hand; "Are those flowers meant to do that?"

Looking down at my hand, I saw the flowers now with the same shimmering light as the one around my neck. Now the entire group had been drawn to us, all of whom seemed to be focused in on Iris' sudden appearance. As we looked at the flowers, Iris and I seemed to come to the same conclusion.

"…_The Krystonan flowers…"_ Iris said slowly, looking at me; _"If we have more, will I become more visible?"_

"I guess so…" I said, looking up at some of the Witches; "Lady Claire…?"

"I've never seen anything like this…" Claire said quietly, scanning through her books; "I believe that, since you have such a strong link with the flower, Iris' spirit and magical potential will get stronger with the more flowers you find. I can only guess that her spirit being stronger allows for a more solid apparition; strong enough for even others to hear and see clearly. I don't think it will bring back her body, but the more flowers you have, the stronger her spirit will become."

"I'll go get some more!" Theo instantly stood up, running to the tree that Priel had indicated. He was later joined by Vivi, Mel and Priel who also began to search with him. As they searched, Alph turned back to look at the two of us, a quizzical look on his face.

"So… I guess that you got more power by holding the flowers and, uh… kissing each other…? So what, the power of love or something like that?"

"_I don't think it works that way… it's a little different…"_ Iris said slowly, looking up at me; _"D-don't get me wrong, I do love Heath… and he loves me… right, Heath?"_

"Iris, I'm alive because of you," I said gently, wrapping an arm around her shoulders; "Of course I love you… and I swear to you – and everyone who has lost their life during this conflict – that I will punish Zehaal with my own hands."

"_I'll fight with you all, then…"_ Iris said with a smile; _"For Heath… and the planet… like a Witch should."_

"…You know," Nikolai spoke up, a glint in his eye; "Maybe the kiss was the deal to increasing their power… if that is the case, I would gladly be a test subject for any of my lovely Witches wishing to be—OOMPH!" The red-head promptly doubled over, clutching his gut after the hard punch that Vanessa had given him; "Or… ack… maybe not…"

"_Nikolai has a point…"_ Iris said suddenly, causing us to look at her; _"If it was, we need a test subject to make sure…"_ A slight smirk crossed her face; _"Oh Alph… maybe you and Lucia should be our test subjects…"_

"What?!" Alph cried out, staring at Iris as his face went scarlet; "C-come on, Iris! Why would I want to kiss Lucia?!"

"Come on Alph, be a man!" Leon grinned; "Iris is right!"

"Go for it, Lucia," Mavi added with a smirk; "We all know how much the Dawn Witch and the Rym love each other…"

"Knock it off, Mavi!" Lucia's face was equally as scarlet as Alph's was, turning to glare at the older Nature Witch; "I… I don't love him!"

"Lies! All lies!" Leon called, causing the group to start laughing. As they did, I smiled down at Iris happily, who looked up at me with just as happy of a look.

"Iris… are you ready to finish this?"

"_More than ever…"_ She replied, taking my hand; _"Even if I'm just a spirit… I've felt more alive than I have in years."_

"Same here, Iris… the very same here…"

-/-/-/-/-

It took us several more days to head to the North, and then even further North over the mountain range. Iris and I were invigorated by the new-found knowledge that more flowers made Iris' spirit stronger and more visible. By the time we had left the field on that day, the group had found enough flowers for a small flower necklace that sat around my neck. In turn, Iris was now almost as visible as a normal person; it was almost impossible to tell that she was a spirit despite the fact that her voice echoed slightly and, if you focused very hard, you could see through her.

As we collectively began to reach the portal, we could tell the portal was nearby. The scene changed from a snowy hillside, sloping down into almost a desert; nothing but sand and withered trees as far as the eye could see. Even from a distance, the portal was visible up on the hill; a blue speck of light amidst a sea of brown and yellow. It was like some sort of arid plain that stretched for almost a mile and a half in radius from around the portal.

"The portal to the heart of the planet…" Lucia spoke softly after a short while of walking down rugged, rocky hillsides, reaching the final flat surface; "I… never expected it to be a place like this…"

"So the God we used to worship lives just ahead of us…" Alph muttered, looking towards the portal calmly; "…We're nearly there. It's been one heck of a journey."

"It sure has," Leon admitted, his arms behind his head; "Never did I think we'd team up with the Witches of all people."

"You regret it?" Mavi growled, glaring at Leon. In return, the Swords master backed away, shaking his head vigorously in his defence.

"No, no! Not at all! It's just…" Leon turned to look at me and the other members of the Fatal Hounds; "We were always told that the Witches were evil. We followed the Church's every word… even you, Sir Heath. But now… we've found that the Church has been using us to try to resurrect and even control God. The Witches were the right ones all along. I'm still confused… just a little… but I'm not angry. Not anymore;" Leon grabbed his sword and held it up; "Now I'm ready to take down Zehaal with my Dad's blade!"

"Well said, Leon!" Cecille chimed in, smiling at him warmly. As Leon flushed a little and rubbed behind his head, I noticed Nikolai give a glare to Leon's back and rolled my eyes.

"But… can us…" Theo bit his lower lip, still looking and sounding rather worried; "Can we really defeat a God?"

"Listen up, kid," Vanessa tapped Theo's shoulder and glared down at him; "We don't really have a lot of choice here. Either we win, or everything – and EVERYONE – dies!"

"Although I find myself disbelieving my own words… I agree with Vanessa…" Mavi nodded and looked over at Theo, but without as much anger or vigour as Vanessa had done; "Listen, Theo. We need to completely destroy God this time; we need to obliterate his actual SOUL. You got me?"

"…Okay…?" Theo looked a little confused for a moment, and it took me to realising that Theo was the youngest in the group and probably didn't really get what was going on as well as the others did. As I began to try to figure out a way to explain it to him however, Mel hurried over to him and walked alongside Theo.

"Hey Theo, put it this way!" Mel cried, wagging her palm leaf over her head; "It's like… there was an ENORMOUS egg-salad sandwich about to rot and destroy the planet! The bread is fine – which represents the world – but the egg right in the centre of the salad is icky and mouldy! How would you save the sandwich?"

"Oh that's easy!" Theo smiled happily; "Just take out the egg before it messed up the bread and either put a good egg in there, or don't eat the sandwich!"

"Precisely!" Mel grinned happily, patting his arm; "Kinda like that! Zehaal's the evil rotten egg and we gotta remove him from the world's giant sandwich!"

"I got it!" Theo cried happily, nodding at Mel; "Thanks Mel!"

"That's, like… one way of putting it…?" Priel muttered from behind me, looking just as confused as the rest of us. There was a long silence as we began to close the distance between us and the portal. As we walked, it obviously showed that it was a longer walk than we had all anticipated.

"…You know…" Cecille spoke up after several minutes of silence; "Ridding this world of God's spirit will not be an easy task… we may need to use Lucia's new power…" At this, she glanced at Alph and Lucia a few feet from her, causing them to look up at her.

"Overflash…" Alph muttered under his breath. There was a brief silence as we all let it sink in further. When we had rested at the top of a ridge coming down, the Witches had discussed a move named 'Overflash' or 'The Spear of Dawn'. It was an attack that only Lucia could use and, apparently, was known to be the strongest magical attack in existence. It was, as the Witches put it, their last-effort attempt at getting rid of Zehaal.

Last effort… as in the price for using it was Lucia's own life.

Obviously, Alph had protested instantly. However, Claire had spoken that the Dawn Witch's Rym – AKA, Alph – could use an ability called 'The Eternal Shield' that could protect Lucia from being damaged by the attack. He still seemed unsure of it, but he knew what the stakes were. It truly showed to me how much Alph had grown up over the time I hadn't spent with him.

…Not just Alph… all of the group. Everyone had changed so dramatically. I felt in a sense like I, too, had also changed.

"I…" Lucia looked away for a moment before solidifying her resolve and turning back; "…I'm ready to use it if the time comes."

"Then if it does…" Alph turned to look at her; "I promise to protect you, no matter what!"

"Alph…" Lucia looked startled at the sudden determination in his face, but then quickly averted her eyes downwards, her face going pink as she gained a smile to her features; "…Thank you, Alph."

"Witches, dragons and humans have all come together once again…" Claire spoke up, attracting all of our attention for a collected moment. We also have every single one of the Lapistier; Light, Dark, Fire, Water, Thunder, Nature and Wind. It may look like we have everything going for us – and, indeed we probably have – however… this doesn't mean we should take Zehaal lightly or back down. Defeating God will definitely not be an easy task… however; this may very well be our one and only chance to defeat him. Everyone!" Claire spoke up, snapping her book shut and, finally, she seemed to be certain of knowing what she was doing and being a leader; "Let's take back our planet so nobody can live in fear of Zehaal again!"

A collective cheer from the group rose up as we stopped to take a rest and make final preparations for our battle against Zehaal. As I went to sit on a small hill with Kai and Iris, the three of us looked up at the sky together, taking in everything around us. It was very hard to believe; we had all been innocent people until we'd taken up arms against God. We were considered as traitors… but now we were on the verge of being heroes. It was… an odd feeling, to say the least.

"Heath."

I glanced to my left and saw Kai staring at me for some reason. As I shifted position to speak to him, Iris leaned forward and rested her head on my arm, watching Kai also; "What is it, Kai?"

"…I never really thought that I'd say this, but…" He looked back over at the portal before a very faint ghost of a smile crossed his face; "…I envy you a bit."

"…How so, Kai?" I asked quietly, actually a little surprised at his sudden comment. Kai shifted his position also before leaning back, resting on the sand. I went to join him, and Iris did the same on my other side, resting up against me. For one brief moment, I felt like I had stepped several years back in time; times of when Kai and I would lean back and stare at the clouds to pass time on lunch-breaks during our duties, or the times when Iris and I would go and lie down in the flower fields together, simply dozing off. It was a fantastic feeling and, somehow, I didn't feel so worried about the battle anymore.

"…I once asked Alph what he believed to be his reason for fighting…" Kai said slowly, looking at the sky; "It was also something I discussed with the Euros Knights on occasion during our training exercises and occasional scouting missions. They answered the same; they fought for their country and for the Church. I used to think that was all people fought for, and I also began to believe that victory in itself was the only reward…" He turned his head to me and I noticed a strange look cross his face for a few seconds.

"When… I met Alph, however… he spoke differently. To me… he said that he fought for Lucia… but not just for her. He fought for all of his friends and the satisfaction he got was not of victory from winning the battle, but satisfaction from knowing… he'd protected people he cared for. When I asked him about that answer, he told me something interesting."

"…That was?" I asked, interested now and propping myself up a little. Iris twisted her body a moment, looking at Kai's face intently.

"…He said it was what he had been taught." Kai responded calmly, looking back at me. For a split second, I thought I heard a soft, husky noise that sounded like a laugh; "You really did teach them well, Heath. That's why I'm envious of you; you have people to fight for; people who are precious to you… like Iris."

"_Heath is precious to me, too…"_ Iris smiled softly, placing her head on my chest lightly; _"But… you are too, Kai-san. I protect Heath because I love him, but… you're like family to me too."_

"Same for me," I responded, laying back; "Kai, I know what you mean… and I see you as the brother that I never had. Not just to me, but… also to the children. You helped them back when I couldn't, and you really took a load off of my shoulders. Thank you… brother."

"Heath… Iris…" Kai looked a little surprised, and Iris began to giggle a little, continuing to watch his face; "…What's so funny, Iris?"

"_You don't need to be shy, big brother!"_ Iris poked at him cheekily, causing Kai to hide his eyes behind his hair and my face to turn into a wide smirk as I resisted the urge to laugh; _"You know you love us really!"_

"Iris, cut it out."

"_Pleeeeeaaaase?"_

"Stop it—"

"_If you say it, I'll give you a flower!"_

"I'm not interested."

"_You're so mean!" _Iris pouted, shifting herself and sitting on my lap as I sat up; _"Heeeaaath, big brother's being mean to me!"_

"I got it…" I said, nodding at her. Before Kai could react, I reached over and bopped him over the head with my free hand; "Bad Kai! Stop scaring your little sister!"

"Not you too, Heath…" Kai groaned, shaking his head and rubbing his skull where my hand had struck him. After a few seconds, Iris began to giggle, which was soon joined by myself and Kai chuckling softly. Spending time with these two really brought me back to when I had first met Iris and to when I was raising her to grow up into a beautiful woman. I once felt like all of these memories were a thing of the past, never to be returned… however, with a bit of trying and with help from some friends, it came to me; they were in the past… but not out of reach.

"_You know…"_ Iris muttered quietly after a few minutes, catching our attention; _"…What will happen? I mean… after we beat Zehaal?"_

"Hm…" I thought for a moment, starting up at the sky; "Well… Kingston, Grand Cardinal Johannes and Provost Hugo are all dead… and once we get rid of Zehaal, I doubt the Luminous Church will have no reason to exist."

"True," Kai nodded his head; "The entire planet will be sent spiralling into chaos, however, if there is no order."

"That is also true…" I mumbled, shaking my head before speaking up; "…If someone were to make a new Luminous Church… one that re-writes the laws and corrects the historical records… maybe it might not fully collapse. It will take time, but… I think it's possible."

"_Anything can be accomplished if you try hard enough,"_ Iris added with a smile; _"Maybe after all of this, it won't really matter who or what anyone is; human, dragon, Witch, machine…"_ she trailed off, glancing at herself sadly. I reached over and stroked behind her head gently, looking over at Kai.

"…Maybe, since we're the last two commanders left… it should be our job to sort out the Luminous Church… at least for a while."

"I was thinking the same thing…" Kai looked back with a knowing look; "There will be no more need for war once the God is slain; he will no longer have the power to create the beasts to destroy the lands and towns. We should focus mainly on rebuilding the Luminous Church and keeping a stable government."

"Right," I nodded in agreement, standing up; "Now we have to defeat Zehaal to see that we sort out the Luminous Church to make a better future for everyone."

"_Right!"_ Iris chimed happily, taking my hand as she stood, along with Kai; _"Then let's do this!"_

"Alright!" I agreed firmly and, after a nod and a grin from Kai, I took charge; "Kai, go and ask about to see who's ready for this. I'll keep an eye out with Iris to make sure nobody strays too far from the portal."

"…" Kai turned without a word, heading towards Claire and the other Witches. After a few steps, he paused and turned back, a faint smile on his face; "…See you in a minute… brother. Sister."

"_Kai-san…"_ Iris smiled gently as I felt a smile of my own grace my lips. After he'd walked out of earshot, Iris turned to look up at me with a genuine smile; _"…Heath… you're ready for this?"_

"Of course," I responded with a smile, wrapping my arms around her and resting my chin on her crown; "…If I'm with you, I'm ready for anything, Iris. I promise to protect you, no matter what."

"_Thank you, Heath…"_ Iris smiled gently into my armour, before moving back a little to face the portal with more of the other members of the group heading back towards us; _"I promise to protect you too."_

"Then…" I turned slowly to face back towards the portal; "…It's time."

The two of us looked at each other quietly, sharing one final look of courage as the rest of the group surrounded us, with Alph and Lucia taking the lead. With a collective cry, we all broke into a run, diving straight towards the portal.

"_**LET'S GO!"**_

-/-/-/-/-

**Alright! I think that's a decent cliff-hanger to leave it on, don't you? The conversation at the end was a little bit of kudos to the original pre-ending conversation that Alph and Lucia had. Not to mention that I felt that Heath, Kai and Iris didn't really spend more time together as the three of them so much… I wanted the "family" back together for a while.**

**Also, this note is a small thank-you to a friend who gave me the ideas for the first two scenes; the evening with the pair alone and Iris' spirit becoming stronger with the flowers. Especially the second bit; it really helped out with fitting in the cut-scene from the side-quest which I had almost completely forgotten about. I'm a moron, sorry. XD**

…**Anyway… whilst writing this chapter, I had a thought. I couldn't decide, so I'm going to leave it up to you all to decide for me since this story is for you as much as it is for me; should I put the final battle AND epilogue into the next chapter as a whole chapter, or should I make the final battle and epilogue two chapters in themselves?**

**I'll take a small vote on it and read when I check up on this story again. (Which I actually do quite regularly, even if I don't update it. I like reading through it, but also seeing all of your comments.)**

**Anyway… again, I cannot apologize enough for what's been going on. It's been one fatal error after another and I want to find some way to make it up to you all.**

**So, here's something for you; Go onto "deviantArt" and type into the search bar "Heath Iris". If you do it correctly, one of the options that will pop up is a title page for Withered Petals that a very talented friend drew for me. Go show your appreciation to her and say how good her drawing is for me.**

**Again, also… thank you all for being so patient with me. We are nearly done… I promise you that, as much as I can. I don't know when I'll get the next chapter up, but I'll definitely try to start on it as soon as possible.**

**Anyway, all of you; keep watching, waiting and stay tuned to find out what happens in the final countdo—I mean battle!**

**+Regiinator+**


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